Oratoire du Louvre
Under Henri IV, the huguenots
celebrated their worship in the Room of the Caryatids which belonged to
the Louvre and could contain up to 1500 people. It was called the
Church of Madam. December 28, 1594, in the hotel du Bouchage, a
pupil of the Jesuits, Jean Chastel, wounded Henri IV with a stab.
Thereafter, the Jesuits were banished from the kingdom. Wanting
to continue their work and to be opposed to the plan of Reformed, the
father of Bérulle founded the congregation of the Oratory,
instituted by a Bubble of the Pope Paul V on May 10, 1613. The
currency of the congregation, "Jesus Maria" is always reproduced on the
vault, at the top of the chorus. In 1616, Oratorians, installed
in the hotel du Bouchage, built a vault which will be quickly too
small. In 1621, the Congregation bought somegrounds around and
undertaken construction of a church. Its axis passes by the
center of the Square Court of the Louvre what involves a light shift
with the street Saint-Honore. The building became Royale vault by
patent of December 23, 1623, according to the desire of the king Louis
XIII work are stopped, for lack of money, in 1625. In January
1635, Mazarin attended a concert. The funeral of the Cardinal of
Richelieu took place in December 1642, then, one year later, the
funeral service of Louis XIII. In 1740, the Caqué
architect finished the nave and the large gate of entry. Work was
definitively completed in 1745, date being reproduced on the vault of
the nave above the organ. During the revolution, the church was
unused. It will be used as room of conferences, purse, store
deposit for stage sets. In 1811, Napoleon will give the Oratory
of the Louvre to the reformed consistory. October 22, 1885,
second centennial of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes was
celebrated there. July 24, 1889, the statue of the Admiral de
Coligny is installed at the back of the church, street of Rivoli.
Coligny was assassinated on August 24, 1572, during the massacre of
Saint-Bathélémy.
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