Sacred Paris: A Guide to the Churches, Synagogues, and the Grand Mosque in the City of Light

Cahill (Hidden Gardens of Paris) encourages readers to explore the sacred side of Paris in this handy travel guide with a focus on “traditional settings for prayer and worship.” From the well-trodden naves of Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle to lesser-known locations such as the Marais district’s Synagogue de Nazareth or Saint-Jean Lutheran on rue de Grenelle, travelers will appreciate Cahill’s colorful histories of people and places, recommendations for libraries and cafés, and carefully plotted directions. Cahill’s anecdotes reveal the multifaceted history of religious practice in Paris, including the “convulsionnaires” of the 18th century, who threw fits of contortion in the cemetery at Saint Médard, and the 1792 September Massacres, when revolutionaries beheaded dozens of monks. Cahill focuses heavily on Catholic churches, and while she includes Lutheran, Muslim, and Jewish sites, her engagement with those is comparatively superficial, as when she reduces Lutheranism to an aesthetic of “simplicity” and “symbolism.” Despite shallow takes on faith traditions outside of Catholicism, this succeeds in cutting its own path as a unique travel guide. (Apr.)