3-043-840 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Communist club meeting in the Church of St. Eustache, Paris, 1871. 'This is one of the largest and finest old churches, and perhaps the finest specimen of Renaissance architecture in Paris. All the old Gothic forms have been repeated in this building, with Renaissance details. The church is situated near the Halles Centrales. The crowd came pouring in, taking their seats on the chairs in the nave - men, women, and children. The men mostly kept their hats on their heads; but, with the exception of this want of respect for the church - which is more marked in a Catholic than in a Protestant country - they were orderly and well behaved. They did not intrude within the inclosure of the altar or to any of the sub-altars. The speaker was at times applauded, hands and hats being held up and waved. At the Maitre Autel, as they call the grand altar, the cross and other ornaments were all covered up with cloth. On visiting the church next morning our Artist found that mass was being celebrated in the Lady Chapel behind the high altar, and that there were worshippers in the side chapels'. The Church of St. Eustache was built between 1532 and 1633. It was set on fire during the Semaine sanglante, the last battle of the Paris Commune in May 1871. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.