The Church of St Stephen on the Mount

In Paris' 5th arrondissement at the heart of the Latin quarter, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève close to the Panthéon, stands a magnificent edifice in a blend of Gothic and Renaissance styles, the Church of St Stephen on the Mount (Saint-Étienne-du-Mont), whose architecture and refinement you are sure to appreciate. Building work began at the end of the 15th century, and it was inaugurated in 1626. The building is now a listed Historic Monument and has a magnificent façade in the Franco-Italian style with three pediments.

Once inside, you can't fail to admire the sumptuous, finely sculpted stone jube from the early 16th century (the only one in the capital!) , the Chapel of St Genevieve where the saint's relics lie, and the beautiful old stained glass windows that adorn the ambulatory and the charnel cloister gallery. With all the gems to be found inside the building, it's easy to see why the writer Huysmans described St Stephen on the Mount as one of Paris' prettiest churches in his novel En route!