Church of Saint-Jacques-du-On-Pa is located in the Rue Saint-Jacques, southeast of the Luxembourg Gardens. Externally, the building gives the impression of an unfinished: over symmetrical façade stands just left the tower, right there. Equally controversial is the story of the church.

The land in this place around 1180 belonged to the brothers Hospitallers - Knights of the Order of St. John, later known as the Order of Malta. In 1572, we moved here on the orders of Marie de Medici and the Benedictine monks of the Monastery of Saint-Magloire. The chapel and later a church Benedictine proved small for the population of adjacent neighborhoods, and in 1630 the brother of Louis XIII, Gaston d'Orléans decided to expand the church. It was conceived by a lot, but did not have enough funds to systematically and parishioners, good Catholics, come here once a week to work for free.

In the life of the parish had a huge impact young charismatic abbess of the convent of Port Royal Marie-Angelique Arnaud, a prominent activist Jansenist movement, later admitted heresy. It was here, in Saint-Jacques-du-On-Pa, was buried one of the pillars of the Jansenist movement Duverger de Gorani, the abbot of Saint-Siransky - a long time to make the church a place of worship Jansenists. Duchesse de Longueville, refer to Jansenism at the end of his life, he donated a lot of money to continue the construction of the temple, and her heart is buried. Here lie the remains of the famous astronomer Jean-Dominique Cassini, who discovered four satellites of Saturn and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.

Almost a quarter of a century, from 1756 to 1780, the rector of the church was the priest Jean-Denis Cochin, brilliant preacher and a dedicated philanthropist. He founded the church of St. James Hospital for the poor - as Saint-Jacques-du-On-Pa came back to his roots (the Order of the Hospital was famous for advanced medicine). Hospital still exists today and is named after its founder. In the church you can see a marble memorial plaque with words of gratitude to the priest, who gave his entire fortune to the job of helping the poor.

During the Revolution, the church was looted and turned into a "Temple of Mercy." When Napoleon, the building was returned to believers under the July monarchy - restored. In the nineties of the last century restoration repeated here it has been restored vintage interiors.