[2] After the death of Severin, a chapel was erected on the site of his cell, believed to be near the oratory of Saint Martin in the present church.

[4] At the end of the 12th century, due to the popularity and growing size of the theology school attached to the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, the students and teachers were relocated to the Left Bank.

[4][5] The fame of the university and its teachers attracted students and scholars from across Europe, and a larger church was required.

In 1643, a second sacristy was added and in 1673, the royal architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Communion chapel on the church's southeast corner.

In 1684, the decorator Charles le Brun modified the design of the choir, removing the rood screen and providing the apse columns with marble facing.

They feature massive cylindrical pillars whose capitals have floral decoration, particularly water lilies, and support rounded arches.

The upper walls between the ribs are filled with deeply-coloured stained glass windows from the end of the 14th century, which illustrate the lives of the Apostles.

It has the form of a half-circle, surrounded by an arcade of pointed arches, and covered with flamboyant rib vaults with highly decorated crisscrossing compartments.

The classical decoration was added in the late 17th century by Jean-Baptiste Tuby (1635-1700), using the designs of Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), the royal architect.

[10] The construction of the marble choir was made possible by donations from Anne, Duchess of Montpensier, a cousin of Louis XIV.

This includes the rose window on the west front from 1482, which portrays a Tree of Jesse, depicting the genealogy of Christ.

The third window depicts the Trinity, with God in the center, presented as a King, with Christ before him, and a dove representing the Holy Spirit.

The donors included Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera, and his wife, who funded the windows "Christ blessing the children" on the west front.

The disambulatory is decorated with a group of eight modern stained glass windows, made by Jean René Bazaine between 1964 and 1970.

The dominant colours are blue and red, particularly in the centre, near the baptistry, where the colors represent water and fire.