Church of Saint Clotilde, Paris: Interior, nave looking towards apse and altar

It was designed by architect Franz Christian Gau of Cologne (active in France) in a neo-Gothic style. Work began in 1846, but Gau died in 1853, and the job was continued by Th\u00E9odore Ballu who completed the church in 1857. Ste Clotilde rapidly became a cause c\u00E9l\u00E8bre of official recognition of the Gothic Revival in France and precipitated Eug\u00E8ne-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc's rejection of the literal Gothic Revival. In 1896, on the 14th centenary of the baptism of Clovis, Pope Leo III designated the church of Ste-Clotilde a minor basilica.