Lyon Ainay, Église Saint-François de Sales

Started in 1803, this neoclassical church is on the site of the convent of the Penitent Daughters. In 1807, the church was enlarged by a nave in the place of the old Sainte-Madeleine chapel; the architect Claude-Anthelme Benoit finished the construction around 1835. We owe him the beautiful dome. The interior of the church is fully illustrated and the dome paintings are by Denuelle Alexandre; the frescoes by Louis Janmot. The church houses the grand organ made by the organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in 1880, played on by the great Lyon organist composer Charles Marie Widor (born 1844).