Bayonne Cathedral

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Sainte-Marie Cathedral of Bayonne

The Sainte-Marie de Bayonne Cathedral (also Notre-Dame de Bayonne ) is a Gothic-style church building built in the 13th and 14th centuries and consecrated to the Virgin Mary in Bayonne in the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques ( Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ). It is the seat of the diocese and the Bishop of Bayonne . The building has been classified as a Monument historique since 1862 and is therefore a listed building .

The cathedral, the construction of which began in 1213, is surmounted by two towers 85 meters high. It contains a reliquary of St. Leo . A cloister was built as an extension in 1240 .

history

A simple Romanesque cathedral previously rose on the site of the current cathedral, which was destroyed twice by fire in 1258 and 1310. The construction of the new Sainte-Marie Cathedral began at the beginning of the 13th century and was largely completed in the 15th century. At the beginning of the 16th century only the southern tower was built.

The cathedral has undergone numerous restorations and redesigns. Of these, the one from 1856 to 1896, for which the French architect Émile Boeswillwald , a student of Henri Labrouste, is responsible, stands out. Among other things, he is responsible for the construction of the northern tower and the Gothic spiers. Inside, the blind arcades of the chapel wreath, the facilities of which had been destroyed during the French Revolution , were decorated with life-size figures of saints in the style of the 14th century by Louis Steinheil (Paris).

description

The Sainte-Marie Cathedral stands in the city center of Bayonne in the historic old town on a hill above the confluence of the Adour and Nive rivers . It appears in the high Gothic style with a recognizable influence of church buildings from Champagne ( Reims , Soissons ), which is particularly visible in the apse and the ambulatory . It is about 80 m long, 33 m wide, and the vault in the nave is 26 m high. The spiers rise 70 m, giving the cathedral a total height of 80 m.

A cloister is attached to the church in the south. The west side, opposite the city library (the former bishop's palace), consists of a large portal open on three sides and the two towers framing it. It is the youngest part of the cathedral. The east side with the choir borders the bank of the Nive.

The floor plan of the cathedral has the classic cross shape with one longitudinal and two transepts . Around the choir an extended deal with an existing seven chapels chapels . The oldest part is the apse from the 13th century. Work on the transverse, longitudinal and side aisles continued into the 15th century.

In the Middle Ages, pilgrims gathered in the cathedral on the so-called Voie de Soulac , one of the French sections of the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela . A statue of Saint James dressed as a pilgrim is in the south transept. That is why the church has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Camino de Santiago in France” since 1998 .

The nave consists of seven yokes that end in ribbed vaults . It has three floors with large arcades, a triforium and high windows. Seven chapels adjoin the north aisle . The keystones of the vaults are decorated with brightly painted coats of arms and are reminiscent of the history of Bayonne during the time of English rule. The coat of arms of the English King Edward III. French lilies and English leopards right next to each other. The most beautiful stone can be found in the south transept. It shows a ship in green and gold, as a symbol of the role of medieval Bayonne as a port city. It is populated by seven sailors, a Lamb of God and two helmsmen, and the four evangelists hover over them as protection.

The windows of the cathedral date from the beginning of the 16th century, from the Renaissance period . They show various scenes from the Bible such as the creation of Adam and Eve and scenes from the life of Jesus . The most beautiful windows, dated 1531, can be found in the chapel of St. Jerome and show Christ driving the demon out of the daughter of the Canaanite woman ( Mt 15 : 21-28  EU ).

The cloister is one of the largest in France. It was built in the flamboyant style and dates from the 14th century. The dilapidated northern cloister wing was built between 1858 and 1863 by the construction of a St. Leo consecrated parish chapel with sacristy replaced according to plans by Émile Boeswillwald. The outer wall of the south aisle of the cathedral was transformed into a row of arcades. Gravestones dating from the 14th to the 18th century have been preserved in the arcades.

In the cathedral there are numerous objects, paintings and altars that are listed as art treasures in the inventory of the Ministry of Culture.

organ

The large organ goes back in part to the first organ from 1488, built by Dominique Kastelbon (Vitoria-Gasteiz) for the small gallery above the sacristy door. This instrument was moved to the new west gallery in 1724 and expanded and restored several times over the years. Today it has 55 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The Spieltrakturen are mechanically, the Registertrakturen electrically.

I Grand Orgue C-g 3
Montre 16 ′
Bourdon 16 ′
Montre 8th'
Flûte harmonique 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Prestant 4 ′
Flûte à cheminée 4 ′
Duplicate 2 ′
Sesquialtera II
Fittings V.
Cymbals V
Cornet V
Bombard 16 ′
Trumpets 8th'
Clairon 4 ′
II Positif de Dos C – g 3
Montre 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Prestant 4 ′
Flûte conique 4 ′
Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Quarte de Nazard 2 ′
Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Plein Jeu IV
Trumpets 8th'
Cromorne 4 ′
III Récit expressif C – g 3
Quintaton 16 ′
Flûte harmonique 8th'
Principal 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Viole de gambe 8th'
Voix céleste 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Flute 4 ′
Duplicate 2 ′
Piccolo 1'
Plein Jeu V
Cymbals IV
Cornet V
Bombard 8′-16 ′
Trumpets 8th'
Basson-Hautbois 8th'
Voix humaine 8th'
Clairon 4 ′
tremolo
Pedale C – g 1
Flute 16 ′
Soubasse 16 ′
Violoncello 8th'
Bass 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Flute 4 ′
Fittings IV
Bombard 16 ′
Trumpets 8th'
Clairon 4 ′

  • Cloister of the cathedral

  • Cloister of the cathedral

  • West front of the cathedral

  • Canopy of the Gothic high altar

  • View through the nave

Remarks

  1. ↑ Rudolf Echt : Émile Boeswillwald as a monument conservator . Dr. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-7749-2067-2 , p. 77 f .; 125 .
  2. ↑ Entries on the Sainte-Marie Cathedral in the inventory database of the French Ministry of Culture "Base Palissy": [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] and [19] .
  3. ^ Orgue de Bayonne, Cathédrale Sainte-Marie. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 6, 2014 ; Retrieved November 11, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / orgue-aquitaine.fr

Web links

Commons : Bayonne Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 43 ° 29 ′ 26 "  N , 1 ° 28 ′ 39"  W.