La Madeleine Paris
The Eglise de La Madeleine is not one of Paris' most important landmarks, but it is a beautiful building with an interesting history. It is an impressive Graeco-Roman temple completely surrounded by tall Corinthian columns, .Steps lead up to the entrance which is surmounted by a monumental pediment. The interior is decorated with sculptures by Rude and Pradier; the magnificent organ was made by Cavaille-Coll in 1846 and several well-known composers, including Camille Saint-Saens, held the post of organist.

Construction on the imposing neo-classical building began in 1764, shortly after the completion of the place de la Concorde, but difficulties soon sat in and the partly constructed building was abandoned until 1806, when Napoleon decided to erect a temple to the glory of his 'Great Army'. He ran out of time to complete his ambitious project and it was then decided that the edifice would be a church after all and it was consecrated in 1845.