The bell in the Church of Saint-Séverin's tower has been calling Parisians to prayer since 1412, making it the oldest in the city.

The church itself stands on far more ancient ground: a hermit named Séverin, who died in 555, once lived in a hut on this spot and served as spiritual mentor to the grandson of Clovis, France's first Christian king.

The original chapel built over his grave was pillaged and rebuilt repeatedly, each time grander than before, until the current Gothic structure took shape in the 1500s. Inside, plaques line the walls where generations of Latin Quarter students have offered thanks for passing their exams.

The cloister courtyard was once a cemetery where bones were moved beneath the arches once bodies had decomposed. Outside, twin rows of gargoyles still channel rainwater from the flying buttresses, just as they do on Notre-Dame.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace the church's expansion from single nave to sprawling Gothic landmark, connecting its Flamboyant apse to medieval student life and the Roman baths visible just across Boulevard Saint-Germain.