How the record was counted

The record is built from the author’s photographs and walks. A church enters it once its door has been crossed; a visit is a day on which that happens. Several photographs taken inside the same church on the same day count as one visit.

Every church is identified with certainty: by the author’s own confirmation, by a label in the photographs naming the church, or by a map pin that falls on that church and no other. Where a photograph and memory disagree, the photograph governs.

Seven of the 232 visits, marked ° in the entries, rest on the content of a photograph rather than on a label, a map pin or the author’s confirmation. In each, the church is certain; the visit is probable but not confirmed.

All 232 visits are dated to the day, and the times given with the photographs are their times of capture.

A visit means going inside. A church photographed only from outside is not counted unless the author confirmed going in. Chapels kept as monuments, such as the Sainte-Chapelle at Vincennes, are not counted; chapels in use for worship are.

Ninety-seven of the hundred churches belong to the Catholic tradition. Among them, Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre serves the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet is served by the Society of Saint Pius X, which the Vatican declared to be in schism on 2 July 2026. Two belong to Protestant traditions: the American Cathedral, which is Episcopal, and the Lutheran church of the Rédemption, of the United Protestant Church of France. One, the cathedral on the quai Branly, is Russian Orthodox. That balance reflects the history of France, and also a practical fact of these walks: the Catholic churches passed during the day were often open, while some of the Protestant churches passed were closed outside their services. A closed door could prevent a visit from entering the record. The record shows which churches could be visited on these walks; it does not show how the city’s faiths are divided. When you find a door closed, check its hours; it may open for a service.

The record takes in churches reached on foot, by métro or by RER, in Paris and in the towns around it. The sections group them by neighborhood; they do not trace the routes walked.

The counts reflect the photographs and walks catalogued so far, not every visit made. A return made without a photograph or a recorded walk is not in the record.

Catalogue numbers are permanent identifiers. Most follow the order of first visits, but not all, so a number is neither a rank nor a date.