Notre-Dame-du-Travail church and its incredible metal structure

It's impossible to guess from the outside of this rather simple Romanesque church in the 14th arrondissement of Paris the incredible structure that supports it on the inside.

Built by architect Godefroy Astruc on the site of the outgrownEglise Notre-Dame-de-Plaisance,Eglise Notre-Dame-du-Travail is the only workers' church in Paris, opened in 1902. In the 1850s, the population around the new Gare Montparnasse was expanding rapidly, and the majority of the population was working class. In the 20th century, these workers were responsible, among other things, for setting up and dismantling the World's Fairs.

So it was only natural that theChurch of Notre-Dame-du-Travail, built with the help of local workers, should pay tribute to the working-class status of its faithful. But how, you ask? All you have to do is step inside to see for yourself. The building was designed to make the workers feel at home.

A grandiose metal structure gives theEglise Notre-Dame-du-Travail an incredible cachet: all the steel and iron reinforcement is visible, as are the structural beams. This reminds workers of the industrial style in which they work on a daily basis, and the materials they are accustomed to transforming. A style not unlike that of our national Eiffel Tower, then brand new to the Parisian landscape at the time.

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For the record, the 135 tonnes of iron (!) used to build the church came largely from the Palais de l'Industrie, built for the 1855 Universal Exhibition and demolished three decades later to make way for the Petit Palais and Grand Palais.

The stained glass windows, sculptures and paintings are all linked to the world of work. These include Saint Luc (art), Saint François d'Assise (poetic creation and ecology), Saint Éloi (metallurgy and goldsmithing), Saint Fiacre (gardening and market gardening) and Joseph Lefevre's statue of Notre-Dame-du-Travail, in the guise of the Virgin accompanied by Jesus, both holding tools for manual labor.

To break up the somewhat austere atmosphere of the building, the various chapels have been adorned with Art Nouveau-style murals. A church unlike any other in Paris, classified as a Historic Monument, not to be missed under any circumstances!