The Saint-Laurent church is located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, boulevard de Magenta, near the Gare de l'Est.
The current building succeeds a first church and a monastery erected in the sixth century.
The church was rebuilt at the beginning of the 14th century in the style then in vogue, the flamboyant Gothic. The main part of the structure, the vaults, the high windows, the ambulatory with carved vaulted keys date from this period and are still visible.
In the 17th century, the nave's roof and facade were completed in a classical style and the choir was remodeled, while Corinthian column stones concealed the arches of the apse. Under Napoleon III, the development of the boulevards of Magenta and Strasbourg led to the construction of a new Neo-Gothic facade decorated with sculptures and the lengthening of the nave for the church to be aligned with the new layout of the building. boulevard de Strasbourg.
The Saint-Laurent church houses the tombs of the first executioners of Paris, the Sanson, but also, inside the chapel of the Sacred Heart, nineteenth-century paintings depicting episodes from the Gospel. A stoup saved from the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre Martinique, a sculpture of the Madonna and Child and a beautiful stained glass window on the theme of the Visitation are also to be seen.
Now classified in its entirety, the church is open every day and can be visited for free.
Information on +33 1 46 07 24 65.
