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=The Church of St. Germain=

History
The Church of St. Germain Is located in Châtenay Malabry, France by the Gates of Paris. It was built in 542 CE to hold a piece of the True Cross (the cross Jesus Christ was crucified on) from Spain. It was built by the Frankish ruler of Paris, Childebert I, son of saint Clotilda during a war with Spain. The church was first part of the Abby of saint Germain but the Abby was unfortunately destroyed during the French Revolution making, besides the monastery, church the only part of the Abby left. The Church was first known to people as the Church of Saint Vincent during construction but was declared Church of Saint Germain-de-prés (of meadows) after it was finished and named after the current bishop then, Saint Germain. The crypts inside the church held the bodies of Childebert, Saint Vincent, and many kings. and It also held the tunic of saint Vincent Because the church held a highly revered relic it was a highly influential power when it was in large use. It had much power in regular society and it's religious society since back then they were almost the same thing. The church was very rich and owned much of the land by the 11th century. Much of it was donated by This Church still holds the title as the oldest standing church in Paris.

Architecture
Almost all of the structure is Romanesque but some of the interior is Gothic. It is built of rock as are almost all Romanesque arcitecture. The cathedral is

[[image:st.germaine.jpg align="right" caption="St. Germain church" link="http://www.paris-walking-tours.com/churchofstgermaindespres.html"]]
almost fully Romanesque but with a Gothic chorus that was changed after damaging had been done to it. The roof and apses are also Gothic after a large group of people wanted it to be redone in that style and the pope agreed. The cathedral is a three story high barrel vaulted ceiling with decorative carvings on the side not making the inside totally Romanesque. A birds eye view of the church shows that the asps at the end makes a classical cross shape like in many other churches around the world. Even though parts of it are Gothic most of the church is Romanesque. It is a create and elegant structure that houses a lot of history. It hopefully will be standing for much longer.