Saint-Pierre de Montmartre

Saint Pierre de Montmartre (sɛ̃ pjɛʁ də mɔ̃. maʁtʁ) is the second oldest surviving church in Paris, after the Abbey of Saint Germain des Pres. It is one of the two main churches on Montmartre, the other being the more famous 19th century Sacré Cœur Basilica, just above it. Saint Pierre de Montmartre, begun in 1133, was the church of the prestigious Montmartre Abbey, destroyed in the French Revolution. According to the earliest biography of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the martyrium of Montmartre Abbey was the location where the vows were taken that led to the founding of the Society of Jesus.

During the French Revolution, the Abbey of Montmartre and the crypts were destroyed, and the chapel was transformed for a time into a "Temple of Reason", then largely abandoned. In 1794 the tower was rebuilt by Claude Chappe for the purpose of sending messages by visual telegraph signals to other towers in line of sight. Following the defeat of Napoleon, it was used as a barracks by occupying Russian soldiers in 1814. It barely escaped demolition, but was largely abandoned. It was finally restored by the architect Ernest Claude Sauvageot between 1899 and 1905, and was formally returned to the church in 1908.

The entry to the church is nearly hidden behind a tree filled courtyard. The facade dates from the 1775, and features three modern cast bronze doorways, added in 1980 by the Italian sculptor Tommaso Gismondi (1906–2003). They illustrate scenes from the lives of three figures associated with the church: the Virgin Mary, Saint Peter, and Saint Denis of Paris. A gateway from the parvis of the church gives access to the Cemetery of Calvary, the old graveyard of the parish. It is only open on 1 November, All Saints' Day.

The plan of the interior follows the Romanesque model; the nave is flanked by lower side aisles, the transept between the nave and choir does not extend outside the central structure, and the apse at the east end has a ring of small radiating chapels. The nave dates to the 12th century. The pillars that support the vaulted roof have a cruciform shape, and are composed of bundles of slender columns. The capitals of columns have a variety of Romanesque and early Gothic motifs, including acanthus leaves, crochets and stylised water lilies. The lower aisle on the right side of the nave, facing the choir, has several picturesque capitals on the columns, dating from the 12th century. These feature several fantastic birds, as well as allegorical figures; one capital features a man with the head of a pig astride another man with the head of a goat, representing Luxury and Sorcery. The oldest and most picturesque architecture is found in the choir and the apse. The single traverse of the choir was given a new vaulted ceiling in 1147, with crossing ribs. The apse was rebuilt at the end of the 12th century in the shape of a pentagon. Its roof is supported by a network of six elegant ribs. The double arch which separates the choir from the apse has another unusual feature; it rests upon two ancient columns, dating from the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, with carved marble capitals from the Merovingian period (6th–7th centuries A. D.)

– The church displays a statue of Our Lady of Montmartre, also known as Our Lady of Beauty, the patron saint of the artists of Montmartre. It was donated to the church in 1942 by a Montmartre painter, Prince Gazi. It is now the object of an annual pilgrimage on November 11, renewing a tradition that dated back before the French Revolution. – The Chapel of Baptisms features an oval baptismal font, dating from 1537, and made in the form of the traditional cradle of Moses. The decoration on the font is in the Renaissance style. – The statue of Saint Peter on his throne, located in the lower aisle on the south side, is a copy of a work displayed in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in Rome. – The painting "Christ in the Garden of Olives", in the choir, was created by Joseph François Parrocel (1704–1781). It depicts Christ receiving a message from God carried by an angel, while the apostles sleep below, and contrasts the somber shadows of the earthly world below with the illumination of the heavens at the top of the painting.

The main organ originally was located in the church of Notre Dame de Lorette, which was demolished in 1840. The case of the organ is made from oak, with three towers, and dates to the end of the 18th century. It is classified as a national historic object. The instrument was entirely reconstructed in 1868–1869 by Aristide Cavaillé Coll