From the outside, the church dedicated to the “Virgin of Labor” looks fairly ordinary, save for the unusual bells mounted on its roof, but inside the illusion is totally shattered—the sanctuary looks nothing at all like a traditional church. Its iron arches make the space seem more like a factory hall or a train station.
There’s a lot of story to how that came to be. The church is in Paris’s 14th arrondissement, part of the city only from 1860, and an area then filled with workers and industry, and with only a small church to serve it—and an ambitious pastor who zealously raised funds to replace it with something grander, something dedicated to its working-class parishioners, and, not accidentally, something that could be connected to the upcoming 1900 International Exposition in Paris.
The fair was not just an incidental connection; many of the workers building the pavilions of the fair lived in the area, and the pastor, Soulange-Godin also pitched the ‘labor church’ as a place where local workers and visiting workers might connect. Whether or not that was a fund-raising ploy… well… there was also a more tangible connection—the framework of the church itself.
The architect, Jules-Godefroy Astruc, was able to obtain the iron beams, trusses and more from the Palace of Industry, which had been built for the 1855 Exhibition and re-used for the one in 1889 for which the Eiffel Tower was built. It was torn down to make way for the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, which were built for the 1900 event. It was one of the earliest uses of exposed columns and one of the first in a church.
Across town, in Montmartre, another church was also using exposed beams, Anatole de Baudot’s Eglise de Saint-Jean de Montmartre which carried an industrial look and Art Nouveau designs into the exterior as well as the interior, while Astruc’s is more a traditional design with new materials.
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Of course, ‘new materials’ is not exactly a straightforward concept in a church built with a recycled skeleton, and the re-use ethic goes a bit further in the exterior walls. Stone for the main facade was new, but the side walls and much of the rear of the building is made of rubble stones retrieved from demolition of old fair buildings and others. Because of its metal frame, neither huge masonry pillars nor heavy exterior bearing walls were needed.
One other recycled item: The bells on the roof were captured by French troops at the Battle of Sebastopol in the Crimean War and given to the original church by Napoleon III.
Notre Dame du Travail is an active parish, and its interior fittings are quite varied in style, added over the years since the church was completed in 1902.
The Art Nouveau murals, almost like wallpaper, were an afterthought to the original plans; they were added to add warmth to the industrial-feeling atmosphere and to promote a contemplative atmosphere.
Two decrees in 1975 made the inside and the outside of the church historic landmarks; forty years later, in 2016 under a new law, the separate designations were withdrawn and the entire structure is a protected landmark—and well worth a visit.
