Saint Etienne
du Mont 1 - 2
Place Sainte-Geneviève, 75005 Paris
Orgue de tribune
1636 - Pescheur
1656 - Jean de Héman/Pierre Désenclos
1679 - J. Carouge
1717 - J. Tribuot
1766/77 - Somer/Clicquot
1863/73 - Cavaillé-Coll
1911 - Puget
1928 - Koenig
1956 - Beuchet-Debierre
1975 - Gonzalez
1992/2012 - Dargassies
Photo: Jeroen de Haan
The organcase of Saint Etienne du Mont dates from 1633
and was built by Jean Buron. It is a real masterpiece and
perhaps the most beautiful organ case in Paris and the
oldest case which is preserved completely.
Pierre le Pescheur finished the instrument itself in 1636.
The organ was badly damaged in a fire in 1760. Francois-
Henri Clicquot rebuilt the organ in 1777, completing the
works of Nicolas Somer, who died in 1771. Aristide
Cavaillé-Coll revised the organ again in 1863. The third
revision was carried out by Beuchet-Debierre in 1956. He
placed the pedal windchests outside the organ and the
windchest of the récit beneath the organ, replaced the
old console by additional stops of the positif, brought up
the stop list to 83 (of which 56 are placed inside the
organ case), electrified the traction and placed a new
console in the north transept gallery. In 1975, Gonzalez
revoiced the instrument completely.
39 stops are still from before the revolution, but they are
severly altered (only 7 stops are still located on their
orignal place); 6 stops are of Cavaillé-Coll.
Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier on the organ of Saint-
Etienne du Mont, recorded in 1961.
Marie-Madeleine Duruflé Chevalier à l'orgue de l'église Saint-
Etienne du Mont à Paris. enregistré en 1991.
Eugène Atget, 1912
Photo of the church: Charles Aknin
St-Etienne-du-Mont was built between 1492 and 1626
as the chapel of an abbey dedicated to the patroness
of Paris, St. Geneviève. A chapel contains a reliquary,
though her bones were burned during the revolution.
The site itself is much older, dating back to the 6th
century , when Clovis (466-511) founded the abbey.
Remains of the ancient abbey, situated south of the
church, comprise the Tour de Clovis (Tower of Clovis,
lower part 11th century), the cloister (15th century)
and the reflectory (1220), which are now part of the
Lycée Henri IV.
The church displays a mixture of Renaissance and
Gothic styles. The vaults of the apse were built in 1491,
the chancel in 1537, the gallery in 1545 and the vaults
of the nave and the transept were finished in 1580.
The portal was built in 1610 and the bell tower in 1624.
In particular the rood screen (jubé, probably by Pierre
Beaucorps in 1530) crossing the nave like a bridge with
spiral staircases on either side is an unique feature of
the church, being the only rood screen which survived
in Paris. The wood pulpit (1651) is supported by
Samson with a jawbone in hand and slain lion at his
feet. The fourth chapel on the right from the entrance
contains 16th-century stained glass. Mid-19th century,
the chapelle des cathéchismes was added.