Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin, Paris

The church of Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin wears a pediment supported by four massive Corinthian columns, standing stark against the narrow street. It started as a private chapel for the Dominican order in the seventeenth century, funded by the heavy purses of the local aristocracy. When the monks settled here, they brought a vast library that attracted the greatest intellectuals of the age. During the French Revolution, the building became a literal gunpowder factory, turning its sacred halls into a place for making munitions.