France Paris Madeleine

The construction of the church of the Madeleine was started with Telling of Ivry (1764), continued by Guillaume Couture (1777), transformed as from 1806, by Pierre Vignon, on the model of a Greek temple.It is a church occupying a commanding position in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army.The Madeleine is affiliated with a Benedictine abbey, and masses and the most fashionable weddings in Paris are still celebrated here. The church has a celebrated pipe organ, built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll , which is widely regarded as one of the best in Paris. The composers Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré were both organists at the Madeleine, and the funerals of Frédéric Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Fauré and Josephine Baker were held there. To its south lies the Place de la Concorde, to the east is the Place Vendôme, and to the west L'église Saint-Augustin.