Saint-Joseph-des-carmes

70, rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris

In 1610, Pope Paul V asked the King of France to welcome clerics of the Order of the Carmes who had been removed from Paris. Installed temporarily thanks to the liberalities of Nicolas Vivien as early as 1611, the carmes had a church erected on a large plot of land on the edge of the Rue de Vaugirard. On July 20, 1613, the first stone was laid on the feast day of the holy prophet Elijah by Queen Regent Marie di Medicis. Construction was completed in 1620 and the church was consecrated in 1625. It was then the first church dedicated to St. Joseph in Paris. The church survived the Revolution, and became from 1849 to 1867 a convent of Dominican brothers. Since the 20th century, the chapel is both the chapel of the Catholic Institute of Paris, that of the seminary of the Carmes and a district chapel dependent on the parish of Saint-Sulpice, served by a rector. The classical style church has a beautiful dome as well as many works of art. Video

D2 The organ, set on a beautiful 18th‑century gallery, was built in 1902 by the organ builder Didier from Épinal. The case was carved by the renowned cabinetmaker Vallin from Nancy. The instrument was inaugurated by Eugène Gigout on December 10, 1902. The action was built by Schaeffer, a former mechanic for Cavaillé‑Coll, while the voicing was entrusted to Fernand Prince, himself once a member of Cavaillé‑Coll’s workshop. Around 1950, the Gonzalez firm added a pneumatic stop‑action system and carried out a cleaning and overhaul. In 1971, the Beuchet workshops rebuilt the action, installed a new console, and modified some stops in a neo‑classical style. Another overhaul was carried out by Dragassies in 1993.