Saint-Hippolyte, Paris

An earlier church named for Hippolytus of Rome had been built in 1158 in the northern part of the same arrondissement, at what is now number 12 Rue Arago in the Quartier de Croulebarbe. The first church had been part of the Collegiate of Saint Marcel, and then at the beginning of the 13th century had become a parish church. It was largely rebuilt in the 16th century, with an altar designed by Charles LeBrun. In 1793, during the French Revolution, it was sold as a national property, looted, and was finally destroyed during the renovation of central Paris carried out by Napoleon III. The only surviving portion is a Gothic doorway now visible at 12 boulevard Saint-Hippolyte ^{[1] [2]}

The principal sponsor of the present church, and donor of the site, was Hippolyte Panhard, a pioneer Paris automobile manufacturer named for Saint Hippolytus.

The church was constructed beginning in 1909. and originally was small, with a choir and four traverses. As the neighborhood grew rapidly, it was enlarged in 2024 with the addition of three new traverses, closed by a facade, and two side aisles. The neighbourhood has changed considerably since the church was built, and it is now largely surrounded by Chinatown.^[3]

• 
  The facade and portal
• 
  Painting over the portal, depicting the martyrdom of Saint Hippolyte

The church has single nave with two outer aisles, with no lateral chapels. The interior style is [Neo-Gothic], with arcades, columns with sculpted vegetation on the capitals; Gothic pointed arches; and a ceiling traversed by [rib vaults]. The Chapel of the Virgin is located in the apse behind the choir.^[4]

• 
  Te nave facing the choir
• 
  THe choir with the two apse chapels
• 
  Chapel of the Virgin

The stained-glass windows of the church were made by the workshop of Lux Fournier in Tours, and completed in 1926^[5]

• 
  The Life of the Virgin Mary
• 
  Angels transport the Virgin Mary to heaven
• 
  Saint Andrew
• 
  The marriage of the Virgin Mary
• 
  Saint John the Evangelist
• 
  Crowning of the Holy Virgin (detail)
• 
  The Last Supper
• 
  Signature of the window artists