Cathedral sights in France
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Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris
This is the heart of Paris – so much so that distances from Paris to every part of metropolitan France are measured from place du Parvis Notre Dame, the square in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris. A bronze star across the street from the cathedral’s main entrance marks the exact location of point zéro des routes de France.
Notre Dame, the most visited unticketed site in Paris, with upwards of 14 million people crossing its threshold a year, is not just a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture; it was also the focus of Catholic Paris for seven centuries.
Built on a site occupied by earlier churches and, a millennium before that, a Gallo-Roman temple, it…
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Cathédrale Notre-Dame
Victor Hugo declared it a 'gigantic and delicate marvel', Goethe professed that its 'loftiness is linked to its beauty' and, no matter the angle or time of day, you too will be captivated by Strasbourg's centrepiece Gothic cathedral. At once immense and intricate, the cathedral is a riot of filigree stonework and flying buttresses, leering gargoyles and lacy spires.
The west facade, most impressive if approached from rue Mercière, was completed in 1284, but the 142m spire – the tallest of its time – was not in place until 1439; its southern companion was never built.
On a sunny day, the 12th- to 14th-century stained-glass windows – especially the rose window over the…
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Cathédrale Notre Dame
One of the crowning architectural achievements of Western civilisation, the 130m-long Cathédrale Notre Dame de Chartres was built in the Gothic style during the first quarter of the 13th century to replace a Romanesque cathedral that had been devastated by fire – along with much of the town – in 1194. Because of effective fundraising and donated labour, construction took only 30 years, resulting in a high degree of architectural unity. It is France's best-preserved medieval cathedral, having been spared postmedieval modifications, the ravages of war and the Reign of Terror.
The cathedral's west, north and south entrances have superbly ornamented triple portals, but…
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Cathédrale Notre Dame
Most of Bayeux' spectacular Norman Gothic cathedral dates from the 13th century, though the crypt (accessible from the north side of the choir), the arches of the nave and the lower portions of the entrance towers are 11th-century Romanesque. The central tower was added in the 15th century; the copper dome dates from the 1860s. First prize for tackiness has got to go to 'Litanies de la Sainte Vierge', a 17th-century retable in the first chapel on the left as you enter the cathedral.
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Cathédrale St-Jean
This partly Romanesque cathedral, seat of Lyon’s 133rd bishop, was built between the late 11th and early 16th centuries. The portals of its Flamboyant Gothic facade, completed in 1480, are decorated with 280 square stone medallions. Don’t miss the astronomical clock in the north transept chiming at noon, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm daily.
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Basilique de St-Denis
St-Denis Basilica was the burial place for all but a handful of France’s kings and queens from Dagobert I (r 629–39) to Louis XVIII (r 1814–24), constituting one of Europe’s most important collections of funerary sculpture; today the remains of 43 kings and 32 queens repose here. The single-towered basilica, begun around 1136, was the first major structure to be built in the Gothic style, serving as a model for other 12th-century French cathedrals, including the one at Chartres. Features illustrating the transition from Romanesque to Gothic can be seen in the choir and double ambulatory, which are adorned with a number of 12th-century stained-glass windows. The …
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Cathédrale Notre Dame
Imagine the egos, extravagance and the over-the-top costumes of a French royal coronation… The focal point of all the bejewelled pomposity was Reims' cathedral, a Gothic edifice begun in 1211 – and mostly completed 100 years later – on a site occupied by churches since the 5th century. The single most famous event to take place here was the coronation of Charles VII, with Joan of Arc at his side, on 17 July 1429. The structure, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1991, will celebrate its 800th anniversary in 2011. To get the most impressive first view, approach the cathedral from the west, along rue Libergier.
Seriously damaged by artillery and fire during WWI, the…
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Cathédrale Ste-Cécile
Right at the heart of Albi is the mighty Cathédrale Ste-Cécile, which was begun in 1282 but took well over a century to complete. Attractive isn't the word – what strikes you most is its sheer mass rising over town like some Tolkienesque tower rather than a place of Christian worship.
Step inside and the contrast with that brutal exterior is astonishing. No surface was left untouched by the Italian artists who, in the early 16th century, painted their way, chapel by chapel, the length of its vast nave. An intricately carved, lacy rood screen, many of its statues smashed in the Revolution, spans the sanctuary. The stained-glass windows in the apse and choir date from…
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Cathédrale Notre Dame
On a site occupied by churches since the 4th century, Rouen's magnificent cathedral was painted repeatedly by Claude Monet, who was fascinated by the subtle changes of light and colour on the cathedral's towering French Gothic facade. Built between 1201 and 1514, the building was damaged by time, WWII and a 1999 storm, and is still undergoing renovation. Monet would hardly recognise its recently cleaned facade, now almost white.
The Romanesque crypt was part of a cathedral completed in 1062 and destroyed by a conflagration that flattened much of the city at Easter in the year 1200. The free tours to the crypt, ambulatory and Chapel of the Virgin are in French, but some…
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Cathédrale St-Étienne
As delicate as Chantilly lace, the golden spires of this Gothic cathedral crown Metz' skyline. Exquisitely lit by kaleidoscopic curtains of 13th- to 20th-century stained glass, the cathedral is nicknamed 'God's lantern'. The Gothic windows, on the north transept arm, contrast with the Renaissance windows on the south transept arm.
Notice the flamboyant Chagall windows in reds, yellows and blues in the ambulatory, which also harbours the treasury. The sculpture of the Graoully ('grau-lee'), a dragon said to have terrified pre-Christian Metz, lurks in the 15th-century crypt. The cathedral looks its most radiant on a bright day and when floodlit in the evening.
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Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
Troyes' most important house of worship, 114m long, incorporates elements from every period of champenois Gothic architecture. The Flamboyant west facade, for instance, dates from the mid-1500s, while the choir and transepts are more than 250 years older. The interior is illuminated by a spectacular series of some 180 stained-glass windows (13th to 17th centuries) that shine like jewels when it's sunny. Also of interest: a fantastical baroque organ (1730s) sporting musical putti (cherubs), and a tiny treasury with enamels from the Meuse Valley. Back in 1429, Joan of Arc and Charles VII stopped off here on their way to his coronation in Reims.
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Cathédrale St-André
Lording over the city, and a Unesco World Heritage Site prior to the city's classification, the cathedral's oldest section dates from 1096; most of what you see today was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Exceptional masonry carvings can be seen in the north portal. Even more imposing than the cathedral itself is the gargoyled, 50m-high Gothic belfry, Tour Pey-Berland, erected between 1440 and 1466. Its spire was added in the 19th century, and in 1863 it was topped off with the statue of Notre Dame de l'Aquitaine (Our Lady of Aquitaine). Scaling the tower's 232 narrow steps rewards you with a spectacular panorama of the city.
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Le Groupe Épiscopal
Fréjus’ star sight is the Groupe Épiscopal, built on the foundations of a Roman temple. At the heart of the complex is an 11th- and 12th-century cathedral, one of the first Gothic buildings in the region, and a cloister featuring rare 14th- and 15th-century painted wooden ceiling panels depicting angels, devils, hunters, acrobats and monsters in vivid comic-book fashion.
The meaning and origin of these sci-fi like creatures is unknown. Only 500 of the original 1200 frames survive. If you can, bring binoculars for a better view or rent a pair at the ticket desk for €1.
Before you enter the cathedral, make sure you take a peek at the octagonal 5th-century baptistery…
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Cathedral St-Corentin
At the centre of the city stands this impressive cathedral, the distinctive kink built into its soaring light-filled interior said by some to symbolise Christ's head inclined on one shoulder as he was dying on the cross. Begun in 1239, the cathedral wasn't completed until the 1850s, with the seamless addition of its dramatic twin spires. Between them, high on the west facade, is an equestrian statue of King Gradlon, the city's mythical 5th-century founder.
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Cathédrale St-Bénigne
Situated above the tomb of St Benignus (who is believed to have brought Christianity to Burgundy in the 2nd century), this Gothic-style church with multicoloured roof tiles was built around 1300 as an abbey church. Some of Burgundy's great figures are buried here. The crypt is all that remains of an 11th-century Romanesque basilica and is a maze of arched tunnels, carved capitals and inlaid floors. Guided tours are available.
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Cathédrale St-Vincent
The town’s centrepiece was constructed between the 12th and 18th centuries, but damage during WWII was severe. A mosaic plaque on the floor of the nave marks the spot where Jacques Cartier received the blessing of the bishop of St-Malo before his ‘voyage of discovery’ to Canada in 1535. Cartier’s tomb – all that remains of it post-1944 is his entombed head – is in a chapel on the north side of the choir.
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Cathédrale St-Étienne
Similar in style to the Cathédrale St-Front in Périgueux, the airy nave of Cahors' Romanesque cathedral, consecrated in 1119, is topped by two cupolas (at 18m wide, the largest in France). Some of the frescos are 14th century, but the side chapels and carvings in the cloître (cloister) mainly date from the Flamboyant Gothic period in the 16th century. On the cathedral's north facade is a carved tympanum depicting Christ surrounded by fluttering angels and pious saints.
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Cathédrale Ste-Marie Cathedral
The twin towers of Bayonne's Gothic cathedral soar above the city. Construction began in the 13th century, and was completed in 1451; the mismatched materials in some ways resemble Lego blocks. Above the north aisle are three lovely stained-glass windows; the oldest, in the Chapelle Saint Jérôme, dates from 1531. The entrance to the stately 13th-century cloister is on place Louis Pasteur.
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Cathédrale St-Sacerdos
Whichever street you take, sooner or later you'll end up at the cathedral on place du Peyrou, once part of Sarlat's Cluniac abbey. The original abbey church was built in the 1100s, redeveloped in the early 1500s and remodelled again in the 1700s, so it's a real mix of styles. The belfry and western facade are the oldest parts of the building, while the nave, organ and interior chapels are later additions.
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Cathédrale St-Jean
Topped by a typically Provençal wrought-iron bell cage, Cathédrale St-Jean, begun in 1324 and not completed until 1509, has a flat facade of red brick and smooth, zigzagging river stones. The cavernous single nave is marked by the fine carving and relative sobriety of its Catalan altarpiece. For centuries, Perpignan believers have venerated the engagingly naive statue of the Virgin and child in the chapel of Nostra Senyora dels Correchs in the north aisle.
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Cathédrale de Monaco
An adoring crowd continually shuffles past Prince Rainier’s and Princess Grace’s graves, inside the cathedral choir of this 1875 Romanesque-Byzantine cathedral. The Monaco’s boys’ choir, Les Petits Chanteurs de Monaco, sings Sunday Mass at 10.30am between September and June.
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Cathédrale Orthodoxe Russe St-Nicolas
Built between 1902 and 1912 to provide a big enough church for the growing Russian community, this cathedral, with its colourful onion domes and rich, ornate interior, is the biggest Russian Orthodox church outside Russia. The interior was closed to the public at the time of writing.
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Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
Inside the Flamboyant Gothic Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul, the tomb of François II (r 1458–88), Duke of Brittany, and his second wife, Marguerite de Foix, is a masterpiece of Renaissance art.
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Cathédrale Ste-Réparate
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Cathédrale Ste-Marie
The 16th-century cathedral contains Napoléon's baptismal font and the Vierge au Sacré-Cœur (Virgin of the Sacred Heart) by Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863).
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