Paul Abadie

Paul Abadie was a French architect and building restorer. He became known for his French historicism and worked on major projects such as at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. He was born in Paris on 9th November 1812 and died on 3rd August 1884 in Chatou, France aged 71.

Church of Saint-Jacques de l’Houmeau (1840)
Restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral (1874)
Sacre Coeur Church, Montmartre, Paris (1875-1914)

1812: Paul Abadie was born on the 9th November in Paris, France. His father was also an architect named Paul Abadie Senior. He was educated at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and is most famous for designing the church of the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, Paris.

1835: He enters the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris and is taught by Achille Leclere. After his studies he became an attaché to the commission for historical monuments where he was particularly interested in medieval sites and monuments and in particular their restoration.

1845: He becomes the second inspector for the restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, under the directorship of the head architects Viollet le Duc and Lassus. 

1848: He becomes Diocesan Architect to Angoulême, Périgueux, and La Rochelle.

1852: He begins remodelling the Byzantino-Romanesque Church of Saint-Front at Périgueux which lasted until 1901 after his death. 

1854: He begins work on the restoration of the Cathedral of Saint Pierre in Angouleme which lasted until 1885. He has been criticised for inventing his own historical style here rather than researching the archaeology of the site. He is also responsible for designing the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) in the same town.

1859: He begins restoring the façade of the church of Saint-Croix in Bordeaux which would not be completed until 1865.

1861: He is appointed Inspector-General of Diocesan Buildings.

1862: He is appointed as the Diocesan Architect for the Saint André Cathedral of Bordeaux.

1871: He is made a member of the Commission for Historical Monuments.

1873: Cardinal Joseph Guibert chooses Abadie’s entry in the competition for the construction of a basilica on the hill at Montmartre, Paris over eleven other submissions.

1874: He becomes the main diocesan architect for Paris taking over from Eugene Viollet-le-Duc and becomes chief architect for Notre Dame Cathedral.

1875: Work begins on building the Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre. He is elected to membership of the Académie des Beaux Arts. His church work left him little time for private commissions but he did accept one, Mailleberchie Castle in Villebois-Lavalette, which he designed in a neo medieval style.

Paul Abadie died on 3rd August 1884 in Chatou, Yvelines, France and never saw the church of Sacre Coeur completed which went on until 1914. Due to the First World War the building wasn’t consecrated until 16th October 1919.

Although his work was popular during the nineteenth century Abadie was condemned by many academics in the mid-twentieth century for his fanciful architecture which they felt destroyed good Romanesque buildings. Many of his restorations, such as at Angouleme Cathedral, have been criticised for owing more to conjecture than to historical accuracy.

His works, in particular at Sacré Cœur in Paris, have inspired many other devotional and pilgrimage basilicas such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels. He has also inspired a large number of churches in France, most notably Saint Esprit in Paris designed by Paul Tournon, Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot, by Émile Bois and Sainte-Odile by Jacques Barge. 

Since the 1980’s he has been re-evaluated due to his role in the neo-medieval movement.

List of works in France:

Basilica Sacre-Coeur, Paris.
Church of Chatou.
Church of Saint-Georges of Musician.
Mailleberchie Castle, Villebois-Lavatte.
Notre Dame de Paris. (restoration).
Church Sainte-Croix Bordeaux. (restoration).
Saint-Michel Tower, Bordeaux. (restoration).
Saint-Ferdinand Church, Bordeaux. (restoration).
Church of the Bastide, Bordeaux. (restoration).
Sacristy of Saint-Andre Cathedral, Bordeaux. (restoration).
Synagogue of Bordeaux. (restoration).
Front of Perigueux Cathedral. (restoration).
Saint-Georges Church, Périgueux. (restoration).
Saint-Pierre Abbey, Brantôme. (restoration).
Angoulême Cathedral. (restoration).
Saint-Etienne Cathedral, Cahors. (restoration).
Saint-Léger Church, Cognac. (restoration).
Château d’Angoulême, Angoulême. (restoration).
Saint-Martial Church, Angoulême. (restoration).