Saint-Séverin

The Church of Saint-Séverin is a Roman Catholic church in the Latin Quarter of Paris, located on the lively tourist street Rue Saint-Séverin. It is one of the oldest churches that remains standing on the Left Bank, and it continues in use as a place of worship.
It was on this burial ground that the first recorded surgery for gallstones was performed in 1451 by Germanus Collot.The patient survived.

Séverin of Paris, a devout hermit, lived on the banks of the River Seine during the first half of the fifth century. The oratory which was built over his tomb became the site of a small Romanesque church which was built around the eleventh century. As a result of the rapidly expanding community on the Left Bank, it was decided a larger church was required. The new structure, built at the beginning of the thirteenth century in the Gothic style, had a nave with lateral aisles. An additional aisle on the south side was built in the early 14th century to accommodate the growing congregations from the nearby university.

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