Église Saint Loup

Church of Saint Lupus (Église Saint-Loup) in Versoix is a Catholic parish church in the canton of Geneva, on the northern shore of Lake Geneva. The parish it serves is among the oldest in the area, and its story runs through the Middle Ages, the Reformation and a nineteenth-century dispute between Roman and Christian Catholics.

What is the history of the church?

A parish church of Saint-Loup appears in records as early as 1177, when Pope Alexander III confirmed it as a possession of the Great St Bernard provostry. In 1257 the abbey of Saint-Maurice handed its holdings at Saint-Loup and Versoix to Peter II of Savoy, who gained the right of patronage over the church in 1265. Nobody has pinned down where the medieval building stood. Graves turned up in 1956 while villas were being built, and the field name "Champ du cimetière" still survives.

When Bern introduced the Reformation in 1536, the chapel of Saint Theodulus, formerly an annex of Saint-Loup, took over as the parish. Catholic worship returned in 1662 and the Protestant temple was pulled down.

Why did Versoix have two churches?

A second church was raised at Saint-Loup in 1839. Between 1876 and 1908 it served the Christian Catholics (Old Catholics), and in 1908 it went back to the Roman Catholic parish. Meanwhile the parish had built its own makeshift place of worship around 1878–1879, known as the "chapelle de la persécution". The episode belongs to the wider clash between church and state in Geneva in the later nineteenth century.

What can you see inside?

The modern stained glass stands out. The Vitrosearch database documents it from photographs taken in 2011 and 2014. One panel, titled "Hymne à la joie" (Ode to Joy), dates from 2014. The panels sit in metal frames inside the sanctuary, a few centimetres in front of the plain white window. Jacques Robyr wrote about them in the local magazine Versoix Région in November 2014. Documentation on the church from 1992–1993 is held in Swiss church archives.

How do you get there?

The church lies at roughly 46.282° N, 6.165° E. Versoix is on the Geneva–Lausanne railway line, a short regional train ride from central Geneva. The church belongs to the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg. Check the parish for service times before you visit.

Frequently asked questions

Is Église Saint-Loup the same as the Church of Saint Lupus? Yes, it is the English name of the same church in Versoix.

How old is the parish? A parish church of Saint-Loup is documented from 1177.

Does the church have stained glass? Yes, contemporary windows, including "Hymne à la joie" from 2014.

Can visitors go inside? Visit around service times, or ask the parish about opening for tourists.