Saint-François-Xavier, Paris

The Saint-François-Xavier church is defined by the massive, pedimented stone facade that rises sharply above the surrounding residential streets. Construction began in eighteen sixty-one, intended to serve the rapidly expanding population of the seventh arrondissement. During the Paris Commune in eighteen seventy-one, soldiers used the church as a prison for captured rebels. Officers held men, women, and children in the basement and the main nave, where prisoners etched their names and final messages into the stone pillars before facing the firing squads.