The church was built by Augustinian monks in 1759, when they were present in the area from the fourteenth century.[2] The plans of the church were drawn by Léonard Roux. It was finally completed on 4 June 1789 by Joseph Janin,[3] and was called Église Saint-Louis, as tribute to Louis Le Dauphin, who had contributed financially to its construction. A book called "Book of Accounts" was written to trace the entire history of the construction of the church. It took its current name in 1863.[4]
In 1933, Mortamet restored the church.[3] In 1941, a number of Lyon Catholics, Protestants and agnostics met fortnightly in the crypt of the Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent to discuss in depth Hitler's Mein Kampf.[5] On 12 December 1987, the church was destroyed by fire, but was reopened on 29 November 1992 after a major renovation. The organ, installed on the platform, was inaugurated on 26 March 1995.[4]
Interior of the church
Architecture
Inside, there are 18 cylindrical columns in the nave and large rectangular windows in the dome.[3]
The facade of the church, decorated with a statue of the Virgin Mary and a frieze, was made by Charles Dufraine[6] and has a round arch and two Ionic columns.[3]
^Vanario, Maurice (1990). Les rues de Lyon à travers les siècles: XIVe au XXe (in French). ELAH. p. 21.
^ abcdeJacquemin, Louis (1985). Histoire des églises de Lyon, Villeurbanne, Vaulx-en-Velin, Bron, Vénissieux, Saint-Fons (in French) (2nd ed.). Lyon: Élie Bellier. pp. 99–100. ISBN978-2-904547-07-2.
^De Montclos, Xavier (1978). Églises et chrétiens dans la IIe Guerre mondiale (in French). Vol. 2. Centre régional interuniversitaire d'histoire religieuse. p. 455.
