Notre-Dame d'Auteuil

Notre-Dame d'Auteuil (French pronunciation: [nɔtʁ.dam do.tœj]) is a Roman Catholic parish church on the Auteuil hill in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

History

Auteuil was originally a hamlet and commune with its own parish, and it was only in 1860 that it was merged into Paris. The present church was finished in 1892, having been designed in the Romano-Byzantine style by the architectural practice of Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer, the diocesan architect. The church has been called an "unmistakable small-time cousin" of Sacré-Cœur on Monmartre. According to an item that appeared in Ripley's Believe It or Not! in 1955, the church was built as a tribute to Pope Leo XIII, and the tower was intended to resemble his papal tiara.

It is 63 m long and rectangular in plan, and it has a 50 m spire. Its organ has three manual and pedal keyboards (both electrically powered) and 53 jeux/71 rangs and is characterised by its high quality, best adapted for Romantic music such as that of Widor or Dupré. Its original organ, by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, has been rebuilt in Trocadéro.

Since 1999, the church organist has been Frédéric Blanc.

References