Saint Ferdinand

des Ternes

27, rue d'Armaillé, 75017 Paris

The Church of Saint-Ferdinand-des-Ternes is named after Crown Prince Ferdinand-Philippe of Orleans, who died in an accident in 1842 at the age of 32. Queen Amelie had already erected the Chapel of Saint- Ferdinand on the site of the tragedy (it was completed in 1843): it is the present church of Our Lady of compassion. But a new shrine was built from 1842 to 1845, not far from the first, on the plans of the architect Paul-Eugène Lequeux (1806-1873). In 1860, the suburb called "Ternes" was attached to the city of Paris. And in 1934, a new, larger church replaced the old one. The plans are entrusted to architects Paul Thédon, Frédéric Bertrand and Pierre Durand. They chose the Roman-Byzantine style, imbued with modernism. The building was completed in 1957. Saint-Ferdinand is a splendid and vast church with three domes, decorated with numerous paintings (often in naïve style) made by artists designated by the Fine Arts.

A1 In 1994 and 1995, Pascal QUOIRIN of Saint-Didier (Vaucluse) built the current organ on a new tribune. It is an instrument of classical French style but adapted to the interpretation of a wider repertoire. The transmissions are mechanical and the console is located in the central window of the large buffet. Source The old church had a Cavaillé-Coll large organ, built in 1853. It was the Opus 60, a 25-stop instrument with three keyboards and a pedal, equipped with mechanical transmissions. This organ was transferred to the new church in the 1950s.In 1963, it was restored by Beuchet- Debierre, who electrified the transmissions and modified the harmonisation into the neo-classical style. The upper buffet was dismantled and sol to l’église St Jean-Baptiste de Montaigu (Vendée). A second instrument of 14 stops on two keyboards and a pedal was delivered by Cavaillé-Coll in December 1897 or January 1898 (Op 665). It was the former organ of the Lamoureux Concerts of Paris, used as a choir organ. This instrument was tranferred in 1932 to Notre-Dame- de-Lorette near Douai (Nord). In 2009, the organ of the crypt was dismantled to be restored and then reassembled in l'église de Vaux-sur- Seine (Yvelines). Source