The church of St Herman in the Meadows, as the French translates it Saint-Germain-de-Pres, is the oldest in Paris. Already at the time of the Roman of the Roman legionaries, in the 1st century, there was a Christian church here. Later, during the Merovingian period, it became an abbey, of which only the church remains today.
The emergence of the abbey is associated with the name of the Frankish king Hildebert I. The king brought back from Spain a priceless relic - the chiton of a deacon of the Church of St Vincent of Saragossa. St Vincent, who was martyred under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The king ordered the chiton to be nailed to the gates of the city, but Bishop Hermann of Paris. advised the king to found a monastery to house the relic. The name of the bishop buried bishop buried there was given to the abbey in 576.
Hildebert I found repose also in St Germain-des-Prés. In addition to him. three other kings of the Merovingian dynasty were buried here - Hilperic I, Fredegonde and Chlothar II. In those ancient times, the abbey was thus the forerunner of the Abbey of Saint-Denis - the first royal necropolis of future France.
In 885, the abbey was completely sacked and burnt by Vikings, who had travelled up the Seine to Paris in their battleships. The present church began in the 11th century and has been rebuilt three times. The result is a bizarre fusion of Romanesque and Gothic Romanesque and Gothic styles.
During the French Revolution, Saint-Germain-des-Prés housed a prison and more than two hundred people were executed here. where over 200 priests were executed. The church was then converted into a warehouse for the saltpeter needed to make gunpowder. Then a fire destroyed the abbey and its rich library was destroyed by fire. In the XIX century, the restored building was returned to the church.
Today, the royal burials from Saint-Germain-des-Prés have been moved to Saint-Denis. В old church the only relic of royal rank remains: here rests the the heart of the great French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. The Catholic scholar died in exile in Sweden and was buried in that Protestant country in the in a cemetery for the unbaptised. By laying the scientist's heart among ancient stones. paid tribute to her great son.
