Coutances Cathedral

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Engraving of the Cathedral of Coutances, 1822
Cathedral from the north

Notre-Dame de Coutances is a Gothic cathedral in the French town of Coutances in the Manche department . The cultural monument was classified as a monument historique in 1862 and placed under monument protection.

history

The origins of the cathedral are Romanesque . Robert, Bishop of Coutances , had the first nave built as early as 1030 . After his death, Bishop Geoffroy de Montbray continued the work by equipping the ship at the west end with two tall towers made of local granite and building the mighty crossing tower.

Under Bishop Hugues de Morville , work began in the first quarter of the 13th century to give the Romanesque building a Gothic appearance. The current facade is partly from this time. The Romanesque towers were clad with limestone from the region for stabilization , raised and additional stair towers were built at the outer, front corners. Massive buttresses were later placed in front of it and the choir was rebuilt.

description

The outer

The sharp shapes in the gallery above the windows, which are characterized by a certain angularity and hardness, have Norman-English shapes. The same can be seen in the interior.

At the upper nave windows and on the transept facade of the early Gothic character is still clearly read. The side chapels have, as always in such cases, the spätesten window shapes, here are the advanced Amienser version, the four-lane tracery .

The inner

View from the nave into the apse

The interior of the Cathedral of Coutances shows unusual shapes for a building of the period. A triforium is located above the arcades , but it is set back behind a small tracery parapet and only faded in - which is a later change, however. The shape of the triforium shows the same hardness as the corresponding shape on the exterior.

The windows of the Lichtgaden are also set back behind a parapet , so that the services come to the fore as a vertical element. The counterpart to this is the parapets as a strong, horizontal architectural element.

The interior is not characterized by the graceful high-Gothic column system, but still conveys the heaviness of Norman architecture to the viewer today. This is mainly due to the fact that no new building was built in Coutances, but only a redesign, for which the existing structure of the Romanesque predecessor building was decisive.

While the redesign of the nave in the middle of the 13th century took existing Romanesque elements into account, this was not the case with the crossing, the lantern tower and the choir. These were completely changed according to the zeitgeist . For this reason, the arcades in the choir are higher and the triforium lower than in the nave. The side aisles do not have a multi-storey wall, but open to high, colored windows so that the interior of the nave appears very bright. As with Bourges Cathedral , the aisle continues as the ambulatory and has its own three-part wall structure in the choir. In the apse area , the walkway is separated by twin columns instead of pillars , which repeats the principle of multiple layers in the column system in a very ingenious way.

The axis chapel of Coutances is separated from the actual church space by a special entrance.

Dimensions

Layout
Total external length 95.17 m
Total inner length 87 m
Total width 33.70 m
Length of the nave 38.70 m
Width of the nave without pillars 8 m
Width of the nave with supporting pillars 15 m
Outside width of the transept 31 m
Width of the transept in the crossing 11 m
Height of the crossing tower 57.45 m
Width of the choir 9.30 m
Total width of the apse 31.15 m
Height of the southwest tower (including the cross) 75 m
Height of the northwest tower (including cross) 77 m
Height of the vault in the nave 21.90 m

organ

View of the organ

The organ was built between 1724 and 1728 by the organ builders Deslandes and Röhrer (Paris) for the abbey church in Savigny-le-Vieux near Mortain with 44 registers on three manuals . In 1812 the instrument was reorganized by the organ builder Louis Lair (Le Mans) and placed in the cathedral. In 1932 the instrument was extensively revised and also equipped with Barker machines. Today the organ has 51 stops on four manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I positive C – g 3
1. Montre 8th'
2. Bourdon 8th'
3. Dessus de flûte 8th'
4th Prestant 4 ′
5. Nazard 2 23
6th Duplicate 2 ′
7th Tierce 1 35
8th. Larigot 1 13
9. Fittings III
10. Cymbals III
11. Cromorne 8th'
II Grand Orgue C-g 3
12. Bourdon 16 ′
13. Montre 16 ′
14th Bourdon 8th'
15th Viole de gambe 8th'
16. Prestant 4 ′
17th Flute 4 ′
18th Lazard II 2 23
19th Duplicate 2 ′
20th Tierce 1 35
21st Dessus de Cornet V
22nd Large Fittings IV
23. Cymbals III
24. 1st trumpet 8th'
25th 2nd trumpet 8th'
26th Voix humaine 8th'
27. Clairon 4 ′
Tremblant
III Récit expressif C – g 3
28. Quintaton 16 ′
29 Salicional 8th'
30th Voix céleste 8th'
31. Cor de nuit 8th'
32. Prestant 4 ′
33. Duplicate 2 ′
34. Fittings IV
35. Basson 16 ′
36. Basson-Hautbois 8th'
37. Trumpets 8th'
38. Clairon 4 ′

IV echo c 0 -d 3
39. Bourdon 8th'
40. Flute 4 ′
41. Cornet III
42. musette 8th'
Pedale C – f 1
43. Montre 16 ′
44. Soubasse 16 ′
45. Fifth 10 23
46. Flute 8th'
47. Flute 4 ′
48. Contre-basson 32 ′
49. Bombard 16 ′
50. Trumpets 8th'
51. Clairon 4 ′

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. Comprehensive information on the organ

Coordinates: 49 ° 2 ′ 51.5 "  N , 1 ° 26 ′ 45"  W.