Saint-Joseph-des-Nations Church

The church was built between 1867 and 1874 based on the designs of the architect Théodore Ballu, known for his reconstruction of the Paris City Hall and for the creation of many other Parisian churches: Trinité, the belfry of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, the temple of the Holy Spirit, Saint-Ambroise, and the restoration of the Saint-Jacques tower.

Saint-Joseph Church was ransacked on August 20, 1899, by anarchists during the Fort Chabrol riot.

During the year 1990, rejected asylum seekers held a hunger strike there. This action was then supported by various associations, including Gisti.

The architectural style of this church primarily references the Romanesque art of the 12th century, with some borrowings from Renaissance motifs. The building is made of ashlar and rough-hewn stones.

Having a basilican plan with a transept, the church consists of a main nave flanked by two side aisles and, instead of the usual two towers, it has a large 60-meter spire that crowns the entrance in the form of a three-bay porch.

The stained glass windows are the work of Oudinot and were made in 1868. Those decorating the upper part of the apse depict Saint Peter, Christ, and Saint Paul.

The gallery organ was built by the manufacturers Édouard Stoltz and Eugène brothers in 1874, modified by Costa and then Danion-Gonzalez in 1963, electrified in 1967, and has been reworked several times by Bernard Dargassies since the 1980s. Originally, this organ included 32 stops distributed over three manual keyboards and a 30-note pedalboard.

The restoration site took place from January 2019 to July 2021 and involved the renovation of the belfry. The spire, already rebuilt in 1923, was completely dismantled stone by stone. The blocks were joined together by iron staples which, over the years, rusted, expanded, and caused the stone to burst. The new spire was erected by hoisting 183 tons of new stone, carved in Saint-Leu-d'Esserent (Oise). To ensure the repair was durable, no metal was used to reinforce the stone. A simple corset of stainless steel bands was fixed on the inner face of the spire, without continuous physical contact.

The bell mechanism was revised, and the dials of its clocks were restored.

In January 2021, the church regained its golden copper rooster gilded with gold leaf and its 350 kg wrought iron cross, culminating at the top of the bell tower, 50 meters high. They had been removed from the bell tower in 2010 for safety reasons.