"The funeral of Chopin at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris was delayed almost two weeks, until October 30, 1849. Chopin had requested that Mozart's Requiem be sung. The Requiem had major parts for female voices, but the Church of the Madeleine had never permitted female singers in its choir. The Church finally relented, on condition that the female singers remain behind a black velvet curtain." Ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Madeleine,_Paris
"52 Corinthian columns surround La Madeleine,, each of them twenty meter high (66 ft).
When construction of the church started in 1764, the plans made by architect Pierre Constant d'Ivry called for a design similar to that of the Invalides church. When d'Ivry died in 1777 his designs, which can be seen in the Musée Carnavalet, were dismissed by his successor, Guillome-Martin Couture.
He decided to raze the unfinished building and start with a new design, this time based on the Panthéon.
Construction halted during the French Revolution until 1806 when Napoleon decided to build a temple in honor of his army. He appointed Pierre-Alexandre Vignon who razed the structure yet again and started with the construction of a temple based on the 'Maison Carrée', an ancient Roman temple in the French city of Nîmes.
With the construction of the Arc de Triomphe, which honored the French Army, the new temple was looking for a new function.
Some of the suggestions included using the temple as a parliament, a bank or even a train station. Finally in 1842 the building was consecrated as a church, a function it still holds today."
Ref: www.aviewoncities.com/paris/madeleine.htm
GPS: Rue Royale, 1er Arrondissement, Paris, France
Place de la Madeleine, 75008 Paris, France
View original for full details: www.flickr.com/photos/jikatu/8062084154/sizes/o/
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZE
Focal Length: 100 mm
Exposure: ¹⁄₄₀₀ sec at f/6.3
ISO: 100
