Langres Cathedral
The Cathedral of Langres ( Cathédrale Saint-Mammès de Langres ) is the episcopal church of the Diocese of Langres in the city of Langres in the Haute-Marne department ( France ). The three-aisled basilica with transept was built between 1150 and 1196 in the Burgundian Romanesque style and completed in early Gothic forms. The classicist facade dates from the 18th century.
History and architecture
Around 1140, the bishop and cathedral chapter of Langres made the decision to replace the old cathedral, which had become too small and dilapidated, with a representative new building. The abbey church of Cluny served as an architectural model - reduced in size .
Construction began around 1150 in the east with the Romanesque choir . By a bull by Pope Alexander III. it is documented that a large part of the nave was already built twenty years later . After work was interrupted, the completion of the cathedral began in 1190 with the acquisition of the western building site. In 1196 the consecration took place. The Gothic ribbed vaults were probably not completed until then.
The cathedral gained a great deal of importance, which led to further construction work, in 1209, at the time of the Latin Empire of Constantinople , through the acquisition of the skull relic of Saint Mamas ( Saint Mammès ), who was now also the patron of the cathedral.
In the following decades the cloister , of which two wings have been preserved, and the Lady Chapel in the apse apse were built . The 14th century added the chapel wreath to the choir. Around the middle of the 16th century, the Holy Cross Chapel was added to the north aisle.
After the south tower had to be demolished in 1746 due to dilapidation, construction of today's west facade in Louis-Seize style began in 1761 , which was completed in 1768.
In the course of the French Revolution , the cathedral was closed in December 1790, but reopened the following year through the commitment of the constitutional bishop Hubert-Antoine Wandelaincourt. In 1792 the rood screen was removed.
From 1852, a thorough renovation was carried out, especially the upper parts of the cathedral.
Furnishing
The interior of the cathedral is sparse. Two tapestries in the transept are remarkable . They come from an eight-part cycle created in the 16th century with scenes from the legend of St. Mamas. Precious reliquaries and liturgical vessels are located in the cathedral treasury .
organ
The organ was rebuilt in 1972 by Haerpfer & Erman and has 53 stops on four manuals and pedal . The instrument goes back in part to an instrument that was built by the organ builder Jean Treuillot in 1715 and has been expanded over time. The organ has been classified as a monument historique since 1970.
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literature
- Wilhelm Schlink : Between Cluny and Clairvaux. Langres Cathedral and the Burgundian architecture of the 12th century , Berlin, W. de Gruyter, 1970
- Hubert Collin: Champagne romane , La Pierre-qui-Vire, Zodiaque, 1981
- Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos: Le guide du Patrimoine: Champagne-Ardenne , Paris, Hachette, 1995 ( ISBN 2-85822-614-8 )
Individual evidence
Web links
- Timeline of building history (French)
Coordinates: 47 ° 51 ′ 51 ″ N , 5 ° 20 ′ 7 ″ E