The Church of Sainte-Elizabeth-de-Hongre, dedicated to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and our lady of Mercy, embodies the history of Europe – both good and bad.

The first Church was the chapel of the Franciscan monastery. Marie de Medici had laid its first stone in 1628. Consecrated the Church eighteen years, Jean-françois Paul de Gondy – the future leader of the Fronde and the cardinal de Retz, and then coadjutor of the Archbishop of Paris. The Church is closely adjoined the Temple, which after the defeat of the Templars controlled the Order of Malta, and was considered a parish of the knights of Malta.

During the revolution it was used as a depot for animal feed (surprisingly, survived a hundred magnificent carved wooden panels of the seventeenth century, depicting scenes from the old and New Testaments). Parish priest father Severin Giraud, not renounced their faith, stabbed peaks during the September massacres of 1792. Now he beatified.

It was from Sainte-Elizabeth-de-Hongre, brought last communion of Louis XVI held before his execution in the tower of the Temple. Painting in the Church shows the heartbreaking moment of farewell to the king with the family.

The building was returned to its purpose in 1829, however, during the extensive renovation of Sainte-Elizabeth-de-Hongrie lost his chapel to Baron Haussmann needed to make space for street Turbigo.

Today the Church of Elizabeth of Hungary under the pastoral care of the Order of Malta in Paris, the Hungarian and the Chinese community (Chinese was formed after the First world), Franciscan family and the parish. When on special holidays come together, especially sharply it is felt that the Universal Church.

The facade is decorated Pietà, a reminder that this is the Church of our lady of Mercy, and the four statues. On the ground floor there is a statue of St. Louis, a contemporary of Elizabeth of Hungary, and a female figure on the left hand of the entrance – not Elizabeth herself, as one would assume, and Eugenia, wife of Napoleon. Statue of Elizabeth and Francis of Assisi, who inspired her on the penance, modestly located upstairs. This was Elizabeth – the king's daughter, the wife of the Landgrave of Thuringia, who preferred the modesty and simplicity. She distributed alms, helping the poor; beloved husband Ludwig all helped her. When he died from the plague during the crusade, Elizabeth entered into the third Franciscan Order (for the laity), all gave to the poor and the sick, worked in a hospital built by her literally to the point of exhaustion and died, having lived a life of Holiness. She was 24 years old.