Since 577 when Germain, the Bishop of Paris, first organized a religious place of worship here, this Church has been an important religious center. It housed the relics brought by Childebert, the King of the Francs, son of Clovis. The Merovingian Kings were buried in the basilica (the tombs disappeared during the French Revolution). Over the years, the Abbey was embellished and acquired immense property. This church got its name from the peasants who would come here on pilgrimage in the 8th Century. Saint-Germain-des-Pres means Saint Germain of the Fields - in the 8th Century, the quarter was still far from being developed.

Around the year 1000, a new church in the Romanesque style was built. It was designed in the basilica style (rectangular), and it had three bell towers. Two of the bell towers had to be destroyed in 1821 because they had decomposed due to the saltpeter (gunpowder) deposited during the French Revolution. But the third, the gate-tower, has now belonged to the Paris landscape for nearly a thousand years.

Old print of the Abbey of St Germain des Prés in the XIIth Century. Note that the church still had 3 towers. Only the front one survived.

On its St-Germain boulevard side, note the presbytery. Walk alongside the church, and enter the Desruelles Park. Of note, the full-size statue of Bernard Palissy, designed by Barrios in 1880.

The park is a playground for the neighborhood children, and an inspirational spot for the students of the Beaux Arts Academy. Walk to the end of the park, and take a look at the stunning earthenware works of Manufacture de Sevres (Sevres Royal Factory, founded 1753).

In the 14th Century, the Abbey was very powerful, its domain extended just to the area around Saint-Cloud. In the 17th Century, the monastery became a great European intellectual center.

This prominence however, did not last. The church was devastated by the French Revolution, and then again by the newly constructed rue de l'Abbaye in 1800. St.-Germain-des-Pres was in such ruins that its demolition was contemplated.

Thanks to Victor Hugo's (and the parish priest's) active campaign to save it, the church and the abbey palace (Rue de l'Abbaye) were restored in the 19th Century..

Overlooking the charming little shady square of Furstenberg, the museum is housed in the last home-studio of the painter who died here in 1863. The museum displays Delacroix's personal souvenirs, drawings, portraits, and studies. Exhibitions are organized regularly.

Autographes (autographs): The most important word that is encountered in the field of paper collecting is autograph. It may be used as a noun or a verb. It is not an adjective. Often some define autograph as only a signature. This is not correct as it literally means "written in one's own hand." The writing may be done with pen, pencil, chalk, paint, crayon or any other writing device. The product may be a signature, letter, document, manuscript, musical score, drawing, map or any other creation on a secondary medium. It would even include sky-writing, words scratched on a frosted window or in beach sand. Until recent decades, those who have collected autographs have been primarily hobbyists and historians, who have amassed their collections with relatively meager resources. In recent years the emphasis on collecting autographs has shifted from an inexpensive and enjoyable pastime toward investment goals. A handwritten souvenir excerpt from Lincoln's second inaugural address, written by him, which might have sold for a few thousand dollars ten years ago, recently sold at an auction house for $1,320,000.00. (source: David Lowenherz)

Manuscrits (manuscripts): A manuscript may be official or personal, literary, reportorial, legal or commercial. In America, there is no limit on the date or time of a manuscript. It may have been written in ancient Egypt or modern Detroit. So long as it is not printed, it is a manuscript. The typewriter has complicated things somewhat, but a typed page is still called a manuscript. A photocopy of a manuscript, however, is no longer a manuscript, but a reproduction of it. European usage confines the word manuscript to things written before the invention of printing. Pages written by hand since 1450 are called "documents," or sometimes "modern manuscripts." (source: Colton Storm & Howard Peckham)

Standing at the corner of Rue Appolinaire and Rue Saint Benoit, "Le Petit Zinc" cafe's facade is a reflection of the "Guimard style".

Born in France in 1867, architect Hector Guimard died in New York in 1942. He designed numerous buildings in Paris, as well as about 60 of the entrances to the Paris metro.