Just a few kilometers from Paris, Notre-Dame-des-Missions bears little resemblance to the churches one typically encounters in the Île-de-France region. Its façade combines a portico reminiscent of an Asian pagoda, Chinese ideograms, a bell tower inspired by a minaret, and large blue-and-white ceramic panels. Behind this unusual combination, however, lies a very specific history: the building was designed for the International Colonial Exhibition held in the Bois de Vincennes in 1931.
The Catholic Missions Pavilion was originally intended to be temporary. Designed by architect Paul Tournon, it presented a vision of religious missions across the colonized territories, within the political and ideological context of the 1931 exhibition. Rather than demolishing it when the event ended, a public campaign succeeded in preserving it. It was dismantled and then rebuilt in Épinay-sur-Seine in 1932–1933, this time with a permanent reinforced concrete structure.
A little-known church worth visiting just a stone’s throw from Paris
The building has retained the particularly eclectic architectural style of its original pavilion. The three small, stacked roofs at the entrance evoke East Asia, while the 37-meter bell tower has a silhouette reminiscent of a minaret. Sculptures, African motifs, and references to various cultures coexist on the façade, in a style characteristic of how the Colonial Exhibition showcased the overseas territories at the time.
The interior features an equally distinctive decor: murals, monumental sculptures, and stained-glass windows occupy a large part of the nave, with a series of works dedicated to the history of Catholic missions around the world.
Stained-glass windows cover approximately 200 square meters of the church, including works by Marguerite Huré, Louis Barillet, Jacques Le Chevallier, and Jean Hébert-Stevens—some of the leading figures in the 20th-century revival of stained-glass art. For the façade, Marguerite Huré even used her own “Huré brick” process, patented the year before the exhibition.
Listed as a Historic Monument since 1994, Notre-Dame-des-Missions is today considered one of the major examples of French sacred art from the 1930s. Yet it remains relatively unknown outside northern Paris, partly because it is located in a residential neighborhood rather than a major tourist area.
Location: Notre-Dame-des-Missions Church, 102 Avenue Joffre, 93800 Épinay-sur-Seine