À propos de ce lieu
Église Saint-François is the last great survivor of the Franciscan friary that once sprawled across the southern edge of medieval Lausanne. Begun in the thirteenth century by the Friars Minor and rebuilt after a catastrophic fire, the church gives its name to the wide square, the Place Saint-François, that fans out before it. Today the square is the throbbing commercial heart of the lower town, ringed by banks, the main post office and department stores, and threaded by buses, while the sober grey stone of the church stands almost defiantly plain against all that bustle. Step through its doors and the noise falls away, replaced by a lofty single nave, fragments of medieval wall painting and one of the most celebrated organs in French speaking Switzerland.
À retenir
- 56 metres — The height of the elegant bell tower, added around 1400 after fire destroyed the medieval church
- 1258 year — Franciscan friars settled here and founded the convent that gave the church and square their name
- 1536 year — The Reformation reached Lausanne and the friary church became a Protestant parish church
📍 Place Saint-François, 1003, Lausanne