The Church of Sainte-Marie-de Batignolles looks very modestly - in the form of a simple Greek temple unadorned, triangular pediment supported by four Tuscan columns, in the middle of an empty tympanum - ordinary watch. You can, hurrying to a nearby park Batignolles, pass by and never know what gems tucked inside.

Inside the first thing that falls opinion - statue in the apse, depicting the Dormition of the Virgin. Unusual decision - gray-blue celestial sphere as it is broken, and the gap in the clouds, surrounded by angels, rises the Virgin Mary dressed in the same gray-blue tones. Niche with clouds fashioned from papier-mâché, but do it perfectly, but the natural light falling on a statue, enhances the effect.

Magnificent carved oak altar (with scenes of the Annunciation, visiting St. Elizabeth, the Virgin of the Assumption) and carved panels on the walls of the apse. Oak Department with figures of four Evangelists and the Sacred Heart a festive look.

It's amazing that all this is hidden behind such laconic facade. The church bell tower is not even! However, the first facade was even easier. Construction of the church began in 1828 on donations of Charles X and the Duchess of Angouleme. Architect Jean Molino erected a small church, but the population of the area grew rapidly, and in 1841 under the direction of Paul-Eugène Leko attached to the building two chapels on the sides. Legend has it - the church is named after the Virgin Mary because the builder, who was responsible for the foundation, found during her statuette. In the parish, however, adhere to the less romantic version - Duchess of Angouleme wanted a temple dedicated to her heavenly patroness.

When viewed many paintings, sculptures and stained-glass windows, it is important not to miss the stained glass window in the nave of "visits" by Emil Thibault. Stained-glass window depicts the visit of a pregnant Mary to her cousin Elizabeth is also pregnant - the future John the Baptist. The moment of the meeting of two women, described in the Gospel of Luke, a dramatic and intense, realistic shown to tears.