3 Best Sights in Around the Louvre, Paris

With its rows of uncompromising columns, this enormous neoclassical edifice in the center of Place de la Madeleine was consecrated as a church in 1842, nearly 78 years after construction began. Initially planned as a Baroque building, it was later razed and begun anew by an architect who had the Roman Pantheon in mind. Interrupted by the Revolution, the site was razed yet again when Napoléon decided to transform it into a Greek-inspired temple dedicated to the glory of his army. Those plans changed when the army was defeated and the emperor deposed. Other ideas for the building included making it into a train station, a market, and a library. Finally, Louis XVIII decided it should be a church, which it still is today. A recent cleaning has restored the sooty facade's original luminosity (notice the contrast with the building's nether half, still awaiting a cleaning). A continuous program of classical concerts (some of them free) are a joy to attend here under the soaring ceilings.

Founded in AD 500, this grand church across from the Louvre's eastern end is one of the city's oldest. It was destroyed during the Norman siege in 885–886, rebuilt in the 11th century, and subsequently expanded until the current edifice was finished in 1580. The bell, named Marie, dates to 1527. Guided visits in French take place on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2:30 pm.

Built as the market neighborhood's answer to Notre-Dame, this massive church is decidedly squeezed into its surroundings. Constructed between 1532 and 1640 with foundations dating from 1200, the church mixes a Gothic exterior (complete with impressive flying buttresses) and a Renaissance interior. On the east end (Rue Montmartre), Dutch master Rubens's Pilgrims of Emmaus (1611) hangs in a small chapel. Two chapels to the left is Keith Haring's The Life of Christ, a triptych in bronze and white-gold patina. It was given to the church after the artist's death in 1990, in recognition of the parish's efforts to help people with AIDS. On the Rue Montmartre side of the church, look for the small door to Saint Agnes's crypt, topped with a stone plaque noting the date, 1213, below a curled fish, an indication the patron made his fortune in fish. There's free entry to the weekly organ concerts.