Marie Gicquel / Photo credits: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP 7:37 a.m., February 16, 2024

The Saint-Eustache church in Paris, commissioned by François I, celebrates its 800th anniversary this year. For the occasion, the building is hosting a superb sound and light show entitled “Luminescence”, in partnership with Europe 1, starting this Friday February 16.

It rivals Notre-Dame-de-Paris: a royal church commissioned by François I and located in the heart of Paris, Saint-Eustache celebrates its 800th anniversary this year. To celebrate this anniversary, the monument is hosting a superb sound and light show entitled “Luminescence”, in partnership with Europe 1, to be discovered from this Friday February 16.

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Deckchairs installed in the nave, eyes riveted towards the vault... For several nights, the "Luminescence" teams took over the Saint-Eustache church to prepare this immersive experience, and project the history of this colossal church on video on its walls.

Complex and exceptional vaults

“You have to be strong in math, and also have an artistic sense” to create this work, insists Romain Sarfati, co-founder of the show. “We come to model in 3D and project every detail down to the centimeter. There was a huge amount of work upstream, which lasted more than six months,” relates the co-founder.

The show team also had to delve back into the history books, since the 33 meter high vaults have seen many beautiful people pass through: the baptism of Molière, the first communion of Louis XIV or even the funeral of La Fontaine . “These vaults are very complex,” underlines Romain Sarfati. “There are intertwined ribbed windows…” he says, inviting each visitor to contemplate them. And to fully enjoy the experience, it is better, for once, to choose the last rows.

Discover the ticket office here.