Guided tour of the church St Laurent Paris X
Built on the north-south axis of the capital, on a Roman road that connects Senlis to Orléans (rue du Fg Saint Martin, rue St Martin, rue St Jacques, rue du Fg St Jacques). The church of Saint-Laurent was founded at the end of the 5th century, outside the walls of Paris, near a monastery that welcomed pilgrims who went to the abbey of Saint-Denis. The present church dates from the beginning of the 15th century and was rebuilt in the style of the flamboyant Gothic period. The choir was consecrated on June 14, 1429. During the Second Empire, the boulevards of Magenta and Strasbourg were pierced respectively in 1855 and 1852. The Saint-Laurent church was set back from the Boulevard de Strasbourg. To remedy this, the 17th century facade was destroyed, and between 1863 and 1867 the architect Simon-Claude Constant-Dufeux extended the church with a span, and rebuilt a neo-gothic (neo-13th century) facade decorated with sculptures. He also built a lead spire. An enamelled lava pediment signed Paul Balze was added in 1870. This enamelled lava tells the story of St Laurent after the legend reported by Saint Ambroise.
The church is extended by the chapel of Our Lady of the Sick. Several chapels are visible. Stained glass windows date from the 19th and 20th centuries. Attested since 1548, the great organ was restored in 1836 and several times since. The choir organ is from the twentieth century. The current facade is a 15th century pastiche, built in 1862-1865 by the architect Constant-Dufeux. We must focus on the enamelled lava of the nineteenth century by Balzé which tells the legend of Saint Laurent as described by Saint Ambroise Although not very well known, the Saint-Laurent church has its own assets: its multitude of huge keys hanging from the seventeenth century, its stained glass windows from the 19th and 20th centuries.