Eglise de la Sainte Trinité

The Eglise de la Sainte Trinite features a bell tower rising over two hundred feet high, anchored by a wide, steep staircase that drops directly onto the street level. Baron Haussmann ordered its construction in eighteen sixty-one to terminate the long perspective of the Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin. The architect Theodore Ballu used a mix of Renaissance and classical styles, but the real trouble began underground. Workers struck a massive pocket of water, forcing them to build the entire foundation on reinforced concrete pilings.