Nevers Cathedral
The cathedral Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte dominates the panorama of the city of Nevers from the opposite west bank of the Loire , in which it rises with its southern front over the entire largely historical buildings of the city facade above the nearby ducal palace. It stands on the highest point of the old town, which is partly still surrounded by the medieval fortress walls. It is one of the lesser-known cathedrals in France.
St-Cyr et Ste-Julitte, Saint Quiricus and his mother Julitta were martyred around 304 and were named patron saints of the bishopric around the beginning of the 6th century.
It seems that the Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte cathedral has never changed location.
The cathedral is the bishopric of the diocese of Nevers and received in 1868 by Pope Pius IX. the title of a minor basilica .
history
The geographically and topographically favorable location at the confluence of the Loire and Nièvre rivers prompted the Haedu , one of the largest Celtic tribes, to found a settlement. After they had concluded an alliance with the Romans , they used the settlement as a military supply post. Presumably it is the Noviodunum Aeduorum mentioned by Caesar. Around 52 BC the Haedu canceled this alliance, attacked the city and burned it down. This was one of the triggers for the revolt of the Gallic tribes against the Roman conquerors. After the subjugation of the Gauls, the Haedu and the Romans took over again dominance in Gaul and rebuilt the city, which was then called Nervirnum.
In the 4th or 5th century, the city area was enclosed for the first time with a defensive wall. This is also where the cathedral's predecessor buildings were built.
At the end of the 5th century, St-Cyr-et Ste-Julitte became a bishopric. The legendary bishop Deodatus (sh. Deodatus of Nevers, English article) became known who lived here around the middle of the 7th century.
In the early Middle Ages, several monasteries and churches were grouped around the Episcopal Church of Nevers , which became parishes in the following centuries . The church of St-Étienne de Nevers , which is much more important in terms of art history, was one of them .
The oldest surviving parts of the buildings of the bishopric are the remains of an octagonal Merovingian baptistery with baptismal font from the pre-Romanesque period of origin in St-Cyr-et-Ste-Julitte, and parts of an early Romanesque building which was excavated under the cathedral after the Second World War, which cannot be assigned to any of the previously known construction phases. In the Carolingian times (751–911) it was built over with a larger rotunda on columns, the foundation walls of which around the baptismal font could also be exposed (see photo). The building at that time could have shown a resemblance to the almost entirely preserved baptistery of the cathedral of Fréjus .
The construction of the first cathedral began with the three-aisled Carolingian crypt , which was probably built in the 10th century and at that time was probably above ground, as indicated by the high windows. It is possible that a large cathedral building was not considered at the time.
Today the crypt is under the west choir of the Romanesque cathedral structure. The construction of the west choir began under Bishop Hugues de Champallement in 1031 and was completed shortly after the middle of the century.
A Romanesque fresco from the 12th century was discovered in its vault in 1879 , which was restored in 1990. It shows a majestic Christ in the midst of the evangelist symbols and in the circle of apocalyptic old men , twelve of whom can still be recognized.
Not long after the completion of the west choir, the Romanesque west transept was built. It is directly in front of the west choir to the east. Together with him, the side rooms flanking the west choir were built. In the floor plan you can see from the wall connections that the side rooms must have been built after the construction of the choir with its buttress. The construction of the transept and the ancillary rooms can be classified from the middle of the 11th century.
There is no evidence of any further expansion of the Romanesque cathedral. Presumably there was a three-aisled nave from the west transept, perhaps with four to six bays, possibly also with galleries. The width of the central nave probably corresponded to the width of the choir, the width of the side aisles to that of the existing inner sections of the transept arms. Whether there was a facade with portals in the east, perhaps even with a narthex and towers, or whether there was already a second choir there is not known and can only be speculated.
In any case, almost at the same time, in the second half of the 11th century, the Romanesque building of the three-aisled basilica (with galleries) of St-Étienne in the neighborhood of Nevers was built. Possibly the builders maintained technical contacts or were the same builders at times?
The Romanesque cathedral evidently participated from the heyday of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in the first half of the 12th century. Nevers was on one of the four main routes to Spain, the Via Lemovicensis, whose starting point was near Vézelay. However, with the disputes between France and England, the pilgrimage movements decreased after the middle of the 12th century and broke down in the 13th and 14th. Century entirely together.
The Romanesque nave burned down at the beginning of the 13th century and was then completely demolished.
In the first half of the 13th century, under Bishop Guillaume I. de Saint-Lazare (1204–1221), the wide, high-Gothic nave, today's central section of the structure. Nothing is known from the sources about its eastern end. It can be assumed, however, that the future completion of the cathedral with a large eastern ambulatory choir was considered as early as the 13th century. The provisional closure of the nave consisted of similar arcades that separate the yokes, but with significantly stronger dimensions that had to transmit the lateral thrust of the partition walls ending here. These arcades were then temporarily closed for about half a century and one could celebrate services undisturbed with many believers.
From the beginning of the 14th century, the now well-known east choir was built without an east transept.
This perhaps still unfinished choir was destroyed by another fire in 1308 and rebuilt shortly afterwards in the early 14th century. After its completion, the temporary separation from the nave could be removed and the celebration of the services facing east. The west transept became a kind of narthex, which was equipped with a Gothic ribbed vault, and the windows of the west wall were enlarged and placed higher.
In the early 14th century, the construction of the south-facing bell tower in the Renaissance style in the first yoke of the nave, the completion of which took until the 16th century, began. At the same time, the substructure of a second tower was built on the opposite north side, the further construction of which was discontinued with the outbreak of the wars of religion .
The subsequent addition of the side chapels in the flamboyant style will be decorated on the 15th / 16th Dated century. The sources do not reveal whether the partition walls of the chapels or parts of them were already part of the Gothic buttresses of the ships or whether they were only created when the chapels were built.
Some of the extremely colorful windows were created by artists from different countries starting in 1990; Markus Lüpertz's designs were not carried out.
Building
Its floor plan is unusual, see hand sketch. The church has two choirs, one in the west and one in the east. This variant was widespread in German church architecture during the time of the Ottonian-Salian imperial church system in the 11th century (Worms, Mainz, Bamberg). In French architecture, however, the arrangement of choirs opposite is rare. It is still unclear why two choirs were established in Nevers.
Dimensions taken from the floor plan and extrapolated:
- Total length (outside): 101.00 m (given in a source)
- Longhouse length (axial): 44.00 m
- East choir length with chapel wreath (axial): 30.70 m
- West choir length with transept (outside): 28.70 m
- East choir width without access (axial): 16.80 m
- maximum east choir width with chapels (outside): 48.90 m
- Central nave width (axial): 15.50 m
- Aisle width of the nave (axial): 8.10 m
- Transept length (across the ship, outside): 50.30 m
- West choir width (inside): 11.90 m
- West choir depth (inside): 11.70 m
- Bell tower height: 52.00 m
Interior
crypt
The floor of the early Romanesque crypt is only five steps below the floor of the west transept. It is accessed from there via two arched door openings in its east wall. Its ground plan stands on a rectangle with a semicircle to the west, which corresponds to that of the west choir above. The interior, however, is divided into a "choir" with pillars, which is enclosed by a gallery. Six free-standing pillars about 2.5 meters high, with a square core clad on all sides by semicircular services in only a slightly smaller width, enclose the choir and form polygonal fields that are covered by groin vaults. These fields are divided by sharp-edged belt arches. The middle belt arch is covered on the inside with a semicircular profile. On the side walls there are pillar templates with semicircular services, in the area of the apse rounding there are whole columns without pillar templates. Belt arches and ridges are supported by the pillars, which are closed at the top by the strong, projecting transom profiles. Columns and services have profiled bases. In the rounding of the apse, three arched, somewhat squat windows are left open, the walls of which are greatly expanded.
In the crypt there is an entombment scene from the late 15th / early 16th century, the main theme of sculpture at the time.
Crypt, burial group
Crypt, Entombment Group, Detail
Crypt, Entombment Group, Detail
Crypt, Entombment Group, Detail
West choir
The floor of the west choir is twelve steps above that of the transept. A wide staircase leads up to it. This is flanked on each side by a narrow staircase with five steps each leading down to the crypt under the choir.
The chancel takes on the outline of the crypt and is based on the floor plan of a rectangle, which is followed by a semicircle smaller by one offset and vaulted by a semicircular barrel with a half dome dome smaller by the offset . In the two setbacks between the side walls and the apse there are slender columns that support the offset of the vaults. In the curve of the apse, three arched windows are left open, which are covered by double wedge-shaped arches . The outer arches rest on columns with capitals and fighters , which stand with their bases on the surrounding plinth. Their outer vertices extend to the base of the arch. The inner arches are supported by slender columns with capitals, fighters and bases that stand up on the window parapets. The wall sections between the walls of the windows and next to the walls of the outer windows are covered by narrow wedge-shaped arches which rest on the same pillars together with the outer arches of the windows. Their outer vertices also extend to the base of the arch. On the side walls of the choir, slim twin blind arcades are set in, the wedge-shaped arches of which stand together on a small column that extends down to the wall plinth. The round-arched entrance arcade of the choir consists of a sharp-edged belt arch, which is supported by semicircular services, which are equipped with capitals carved out of plants, expansive spars and bases that stand on the wall plinths.
The rooms flanking the choir on both sides can be reached via a door in the western transept wall and a balcony at the level of the choir floor. Your task is not occupied. One of the rooms could be a sacristy. Together with the choir, they form the head of the west choir. No known sources reveal whether these rooms, such as the choir, have a cellar. The missing windows in the outer walls make a basement seem unlikely.
West transept
The Romanesque west transept adjoins the west choir head directly to the east and only slightly towers above it. The width (in the longitudinal direction of the church) of the transept is significantly larger than that of the yokes of the nave. It is divided into a square crossing that takes over the width of the choir and two transept arms. The crossing is separated from the transept arms by two round arched arcades, which stand together in the middle on a column and on the pillars on semicircular services, which are equipped with simply carved fighters, profiled fighters and bases. The upright walls protrude only slightly above the outer apex of the slightly set back wedge arches and close off horizontally.
Above these flying buttress-like separations, pointed arches made of bundled round bars rise across the entire width of the transept , which are part of the later added Gothic vaults of the crossing and the transept arms. These are four-part ribbed vaults made from bundled round bars. At the outer ends of the aforementioned "partition walls", recesses of the entire wall thickness were made, which made it possible for the capitals that support the shield arches to be positioned well below the upper edge of the wall. This altitude resulted from the four-part ribbed vaulting of the transept arms that was subsequently drawn in. The vault of the crossing is a little higher. There, above the triumphal arch of the choir, there is a large oculus, also known as the ox's eye, which illuminates the crossing.
In one source, the original ceiling in the transept is assumed to be horizontal. a trumpet dome, which was often used at the time, would also be conceivable. The transept arms could also have been covered by barrel vaults with belt arch support. This is indicated by the strong pillars and wall reinforcements in the east and west walls of the transept, as well as the arrangement of the two rooms in front of the west wall, which absorbed the shear forces of the vaults. The former round-arched window openings, which are arranged under today's Gothic windows, but are now walled up, point to this.
The east wall opens into the three-aisled nave with its entire elevation and in the south and north into the substructures of the towers. In the west wall, just below the arches of the vaults, large ogive windows are left open. There are also three and four such windows in the gable walls of the transept arms.
In the southern gable wall, a two-winged portal is cut out at its eastern end, which is surrounded by Gothic decor. Another door is let in right next to it, which leads to a spiral staircase, the course of which opens in three turns towards the ship and is barred with Gothic tracery. It is unclear where the stairs lead, perhaps to an exit in the gable wall. The stairs are crowned by a semi-dome-shaped roof on which the sculpture of the Archangel Michael stands and kills the dragon.
In the eastern half of the northern gable wall, the chapel of the Immaculate Conception opens with two slender, ogival arcades, which is illuminated through two large ogival lead-glazed windows.
High Gothic nave
The nave from the first half of the 13th century, like its burnt down Romanesque predecessor, has three aisles and consists of five bays. The central nave bays have elongated rectangular floor plans, those of the side aisles are almost square. The two pillars at the transition to the west transept belong at least to the core of the Romanesque building. This also applies to other parts of the wall in its axis.
The central nave walls are divided into three storeys in height, with pointed arches across the entire width of the yoke, with triforias with a Burgundian walkway and on top of the upper aisles in the shield arches. The ceiling of the triforium can also be walked on, as there are openings in the pillars.
The arcade arches with cladding made of multiple round bars stand on strong cantoned pillars, which are enclosed at the height of the arches by carved capitals with profiled fighters. Both the cantoned pillars and the bundle pillars in the east choir stand on multi-profiled base wreaths, which are then lined with high, multi-stepped angular pedestals. The partition extends a short distance up over the top of the arch and is closed off horizontally by a cantilever profile. Only the center-nave service breaks through the crown of capitals and extends up to the upper edge of the triforium, where it is closed off by vegetable-carved capitals with profiled fighters. The triforium is closed horizontally by a cantilevered profile. Above the wreath of capital, the services are accompanied by two much leaner services at a slight distance, but they still extend well beyond the triforias.
The three arched positions of the triforium are adorned with simple Y-tracery and supported by cantoned pillars, with wreaths of capitals and wide-spreading warriors and bases on particularly high plinths. The latter are partially covered by pretty decorative figurines: monks, jugglers, a bishop and others, standing or sitting. In the upper arch spandrels there are angels sitting on clouds with outstretched wings.
The vaults of the central nave are four-part ribbed vaults. They meet in the middle in round keystones with rosette decoration. The vault ribs and belt arches made of bundled round profiles stand above the triforias on and behind the capitals. The shield arches also consist of bundled round profiles that keep the distance in front of the actual shields that is given by the gangway below. The tall windows standing on the triforias remain somewhat narrower than the yoke widths, but their pointed arches run parallel to the shield arches.
The aisle vaults stand on the one hand on the pillars of the partition walls and on the outside on similar cantoned pillars in somewhat smaller dimensions, with the same capitals. The four-part cross rib vaults have the same ribs and belt arches as those of the central nave.
In the first nave yoke, two strong substructures of towers delimit the side aisles with roughly square floor plans. The southern one carries the bell tower built between the 15th and 16th centuries, the northern one could no longer be built because of the religious wars that had broken out. Both have a spiral staircase in the substructure, which leads in the southern tower up to the bell storey and to the roof of the tower.
Thorsten Droste explains in his Dumont art travel guide:
"When planning and erecting the nave, the architect obviously had the cathedral of Auxerre as a model in mind. But he also brought his own ideas into the design. For example, he tried to soften the vertical struts that are characteristic of the Gothic, which is here The building has an unusual sedateness for the 13th century. The small atlases that support the pillars of the triforium are an original feature, which Robert Stuckale coined the term "caryatid arcades" Succession in various churches of Burgundy. In addition, reliefs with depictions of angels are embedded in the spandrels between the arcades of the triforias, also a creation by the architects of St-Syr-et-Ste-Julitte ".
Triforium, detail 1
Triforium, detail 2
Triforium, detail 3
Triforium, detail 4
East choir
The eastern ambulatory choir is an extension of the nave, but its floor plan bends a few degrees to the south at the transition. It takes over the widths of the central nave and the side aisles for the choir and its passageways, partly also for its side chapels.
The floor plan begins with the widest yoke in the entire church. It is followed by three more choir bays, which are significantly narrower than those of the nave. The attached choir apse is on the ground plan of a half decagon with five polygonal sides. The plan of the two-sided passageways takes on the division of the yokes and around the choir apse the radial division of the apse, which is led from the center of the half decagon over its corners. There are five partial areas in the form of trapezoids .
The elevation of the ambulatory choir is somewhat different, however, it remains three-story and is led around in the five sections of the choir apse.
The lower storey is almost half a meter higher than that of the nave and is again closed off horizontally just above the apex of the arch with a cantilever profile. In the narrower arcades of the choir, the arches are significantly more pointed than those of the nave, and less pointed in the first, wider yoke. The walls of the arcade arches are broken up into various round profiles and valleys. In keeping with the taste of the times, bundle pillars of slightly smaller dimensions are used instead of the cantoned pillars. The arch approaches of the first four yokes with their capitals are about the same height as those of the nave. In the five arcades of the choir apse, however, these were arranged significantly higher.
The triforias used in the east choir are about the same height, their upper edge is accordingly higher than those of the nave. They are closed again horizontally with a cantilever profile. The main difference with the triforias is the windowing of their outer wall. The outer rectangular openings in the dimension of the whole triforium are divided into squares with narrow window bars, which contain the glass panes. The Burgundian walkway separates the glazing from three open arches, which appear significantly slimmer and higher due to the narrower spacing of the pillars. In every bow position you can see half a three-pass . Their beginnings stand on very slim pillars, which consist of a round rod with a capital on the visible side. The outer arch positions are half round bars with capital. In the case of the wider first choir bay there are four arch positions, which keep the proportions of the others.
From the bundle pillars of the yoke arcades and the choir apse, the central three round bars, accompanied by valley profiles, are led up to the ceiling of the triforias, which are marked with capitals at the level of the lower and upper edges of the triforias. The ribs and belt arches of the ribbed vault rise from the upper capitals, made of three-part round rod bundles. The vault ribs meet in round keystones that are decorated with rosettes. The apex of the choir vault is slightly higher than that of the nave.
Above the upper edge of the triforium, the second gangway is bordered by a stone balustrade, the tracery of which is decorated with quatrefoils. The ogival arcades take up almost the entire surface of the vault shields. Multiple profiled arches delimit the arches above the balustrades and leave space for the passageways of the walkways. The upper storeys are adorned with rich tracery made up of large three-passes, which contain three smaller and one very small three-pass. This group stands on three arched stands that subdivide the triforias.
The organ is housed in the northern arcade of the first choir bay. In this yoke, a large double-winged side portal, which is decorated with Gothic sculpture, is recessed on both sides of the outer wall of the gallery.
Opposite the free-standing bundle pillars are bundle pillars of somewhat smaller dimensions on the opposite side of the passage, in the area of the choir apse they are opposite in a radial arrangement. The opposing bundle pillars are connected to one another by belt arches made of bundled round bars and other profiles. The rectangular and trapezoidal fields of the walkway are covered by ribbed vaults, the cross-sections of which are similar to those of the belt arches. They meet in well-known round keystones. Ribs and arches stand on wreaths of capitals at the level of those of the choir in yokes 1 to 4.
The six bundle pillars opposite those of the choir apse, together with their pointed arches, form arcades that open into five radial chapels. The middle three wreath chapels have ground plans, each composed of a narrow rectangle and a semicircle. They are covered by ribbed vaults that look like a small version of the choir apse. In the apsidioles of the wreath chapels, five slender, ogival windows with artistic tracery and colored lead glazing open up. Its parapets are about three meters high and each is decorated with two arched stands made of tracery. The rounded apsidioles are followed by a chapel on both sides with a polygonal floor plan and a corresponding ribbed vault.
The floor of the choir is three steps higher than that of the nave and the gallery. Between the arcades of the choir, stone parapets prevent passage from the gallery into the choir. Their gradations form benches.
Side chapels
Except for the first yoke of the nave, the first yoke of the east choir, its second and third southern yoke and the curvature of the ambulatory, chapels have been added to all other yokes of the nave and choir, mostly with rectangular floor plans.
In the second and third yoke of the choir, a two-storey wing is arranged on the south side. Occasionally, small rectangular windows that are barred are left open in its almost completely closed outer walls. The wall to the aisle is also closed except for a single-leaf door. This suggests that the church treasure is kept there.
In the side aisles, a large ogival arcade opens up into each chapel across the entire width of the yoke, which originated from the construction phases of the church and until then had been closed with glass windows. On the outside, rather squat-looking, pointed arched windows open across the entire width of the yoke, with elaborate tracery in the late Gothic flamboyant style. The chapels are again covered with ribbed vaults. In some chapels there are tracery on the walls and some beautiful piscines .
In the fifth yoke of the nave there is a spiral staircase in each of the two chapels, as well as an ascent to the roofs for their inspection and maintenance.
organ
The organ was built in 1978 by the organ builder Georges Danion in a neoclassical case . The instrument has 43 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric.
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- Coupling : I / II, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
Outward appearance
West choir with west transept
The west choir together with the west transept rise in front of the west end of the nave with the southern bell tower and the northern stump of the planned second tower, which however hardly protrudes over the roofs of the chapels.
The west choir consists of two lateral levels and three curved wall sections in the area of the semicircular apse. In the apse area, these wall sections step below a narrow base protrusion a good bit further down to the height of the arches of the arched windows of the crypt. The wedge arches are covered by a cantilever profile with a simple roller frieze. The wall sections are separated from each other by four strong buttresses, which are set back differently and are covered on the top by steep roof slopes. In front of the buttresses, vertical slab strips run over the wall sections, the tops being bevelled outwards. They form a kind of light shaft in front of the windows that reach down to the window parapets. Further up, about halfway up the wall, slender arched windows are recessed in the three middle wall sections, which are covered by twin archivolts, the outer wedge arches of which are encompassed by a cantilever profile with a simple roller frieze. This cantilever profile runs partially around the buttresses.
The west choir is covered by a half-conical roof with an incline of about 45 degrees, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format, which are also called monk-nun tiles. The eaves bricks still protrude slightly over the far-reaching, visible, rounded eaves cornice, which is supported by a row of corbels.
The entire extent of the transept is covered by a hipped roof sloping about 45 degrees, the ridge and eaves of which remain a short distance below those of the gable roof of the central nave of the Gothic nave. The roofing consists of gray slate shingles on wooden formwork. This roof with the same covering and inclination "pierces" the roof of the transept and is closed off by a gable wall above its west wall. Since this central nave did not yet exist when the Romanesque transept was erected, the "penetration" of the roofs and the erection of the gable wall could only have been initiated with the construction of the Gothic nave. This also applies to the design of the wall section below the gable up to the roof of the choir.
The eaves are designed as parapets from an open stone balustrade with a cantilevered deck profile over a Y-shaped tracery on a strong, profiled cantilever profile, which is supported by a vegetable carved round profile and a series of corbels. Behind the balustrade, the rainwater collects in an accessible channel, which is drained to the outside via wide, sculpted gargoyles. Over the edges of the building there are Gothic finials on massive pillars .
On both sides of the choir, rooms are built in front of the western transept arms, the pent roof ridges of which reach up to about half the height of the wall. The roofing is again made of red hollow tiles with approximately the same incline. The eaves are similar to those of the choir. The rainwater is drained off in a controlled manner via hanging gutters and metal downpipes.
In the middle of the west wall of the transept arms protrudes from the monopitch roofs, which after a one-time three-sided downgrading with sloping upper sides no longer ends far below the eaves. At the northern arm of the transept, there is another strong buttress opposite the buttress, which protrudes on the wall of the room in front and is carried over the eaves as a free-standing pillar, the gable-roof-like cover of which does not reach quite as high as the pillar on the transept. From there, a much slimmer buttress arch is stretched towards the freestanding pillar, the overhanging cover of which is strongly sloping towards the outside. On both sides of the abovementioned buttresses, an additional buttress was built in front of the building with significantly smaller dimensions, which ends well below the eaves. The buttress in the south arm of the transept stands another on the wall of the room in front, but it only reaches just below the eaves. The building corners are reinforced on both sides with relatively flat buttresses.
In the west walls of the transept, gothic pointed arch windows were subsequently cut out, roughly in the middle between the buttresses, the sloping parapet of which is not far above the pent roof ridge. The Romanesque windows that are visible on the inside but are bricked up are now covered by the pent roofs of the rooms in front. In the west walls of the rooms in front of the south, there are significantly smaller, slender, round-arched windows, roughly in the middle between the pillars, in the north there are two windows made of twin arcades with small arched stones on a central column. In one of them there is a small pillar, probably reused here, with an interesting structure. There is an embrasure right next to the window , apparently a remnant of military installations. In this wall there is also a third but arched window, inside the wide buttress. In this room there is also a window in the north wall. In the aforementioned west walls, there are no windows close to the floor, as in the west choir, which indicates that there is no basement in these rooms. In the head walls of the transept in the south and north, a group of three ogival windows is cut out, of which the middle and larger are dimensioned and arranged as high as the windows in the west wall. The outer, much smaller windows with their parapets are at the same height as the others. In the south wall at the eastern end there is a rectangular portal that is decorated with Gothic motifs. A squat, ogival window of the same width has been cut out just above him. In the northern gable there is an additional small window under the western small one and the addition of the small chapel with two windows.
The gable wall above the west choir still has the buttresses of the older transept on the sides, which end at eaves height with a cover that is steeply sloping towards the outside. Above that, stepped pillar widenings develop, which carry a kind of balcony over the entire width of the gable, which is supported by step-like steps. Between a balustrade in the manner of the one above the eaves and the towering gable wall, an accessible floor area has been created that can be reached via a door in the middle. Shortly before the ends of the balconies, pillars with Gothic pinnacles rise from the balustrade , which merge into narrow pillars at the bottom, and there extend to the buttresses. The verges of the gable run parallel to the roof area behind and slightly tower above it. Their visible edges are profiled several times and their tops are decorated with crabs placed close together . The slopes of the verges merge into the horizontal just before the gable walls and are closed off by rectangular pillars that are crowned by double pinnacles with gable roofs. In the upper area of the gable triangle, an equilateral triangle is enclosed by profiles and contains a slot-like opening. Shortly below, a group of three very slender windows is left open, which stand in a common niche on a parapet and are separated and laterally limited by slender columns. They are covered by archivolts made of round bars that stand on carved capitals. On both sides of the group of three, narrow, barely protruding buttresses rise up, are stepped and end at the level of the arches of the windows with beveled tops. They are led down below the balcony to the roof of the choir and divide the wall section into three parts. A large oculus is recessed in the middle section. Its upper half is covered by multiple round bars, which stand on both sides on a wide, rounded cantilever profile, which is led up to the outer buttresses, which is decorated with crabs on the top and supported by corbels.
Nave and its chapels
The nave extends from the west transept to behind its fifth yoke. Its ridge is in extension and at the level of the ridge above the crossing and at the same time in the axis of the west choir. The transition from the gable roof to that of the east choir without a break is marked by a wooden hexagonal slate-clad roof turret with a bell storey open on all sides. Its roof consists of a hexagonal dome, which is crowned by a high peak.
The eaves of the central nave lie well above those of the transept and are also provided with a balustrade, which is interrupted between the yokes by pillars that are crowned with pinnacles. With their loads, the pillars are part of the buttresses of the central nave.
The somewhat squat, arched-looking upper cladding windows reach with their apexes just below the eaves. It divides its Gothic tracery into two arched positions. The side aisles are covered with pent roofs in the area of the closed triforias, the apices of which run just below the window parapets. The pent roofs of the subsequently attached chapels extend those of the aisles. The partition walls of the chapels or parts of them may have either already been built as the lower buttresses of the buttresses of the Gothic aisles, or they were raised when the chapels were built, with existing buttresses being lengthened.
The buttresses mark the yoke separations. They consist of the aforementioned pillars above the central nave eaves, a lower buttress; today it is the chapel partition walls that are loaded and decorated with pillars, pinnacles and finials above the roofs. Between the upper eaves and the lower buttresses over the side aisles, bevelled buttresses extend outwards in the inclination of the central nave roof, which transfer the thrust of the central nave vault into the buttresses. The outer walls of the chapels show the yoke divisions of the partition walls as pillars with a triangular cross-section. At the portals these templates widen with the cross-section of half hexagons. On these pillars there are slender niches rounded inwards, crowned by pointed roofs and artfully decorated. There used to be statues in these niches.
The eaves are again similar to those of the central nave with a walk-in inner gutter and stone balustrades with tracery in the flamboyant style that wind over the pillars. The existing gargoyles are no longer in function. Instead, they were opened from below near the wall in order to connect rain pipes and drain the water in a controlled manner.
In the outer walls of most of the chapels there are pointed arched windows that occupy almost the entire width of the yoke and with their apex remain a short distance under the eaves. The different heights of their parapets make the windows appear slender but also squat. Its arched walls are closely profiled and are enclosed on both sides by a cantilever profile, which spreads open in the upper third and then rises upwards, curved slightly inward, to meet the person opposite just above the balustrade. These profiles penetrate the outer profile of the eaves. The top of the profile from the arches to the tip are decorated with crabs. The top is crowned by a larger finial. The arched fields of the windows are mostly decorated with tracery in the elaborate flamboyant style.
The two octagonal staircases of the spiral staircase in the fifth yoke of the nave protrude relatively far beyond the roof areas of the chapels and are crowned by octagonal pyramid roofs. On the north side, the chapel in the fourth yoke is covered with a transverse gable roof which is closed off by a gable wall, with a higher window.
East choir with access and chapels
The eaves of the east choir lie a little above those of the nave central nave and are designed similarly to them. The tracery of the balustrade shows flamboyant motifs.
There are no chapels in the first, much wider yoke of the choir. Instead, the main portals of the cathedral are arranged here. They are both twin portals with flat basket arches, separated by slender pilasters and receding as far as the walkways. In front of the south portal, an anteroom halfway down the chapel is divided by an open, multi-profiled arcade. A window is let into the pointed arched field. The north portal has a closed, smooth arched field. The deep walls of the portal spread out in front of him and are covered by archival arches with several steps.
The upper clad windows are designed similar to those in the nave. Apart from the wider ones in the first yoke, all the other windows are significantly slimmer. The glazed triforias, which are no longer visible to the observer behind the roofs, some of which have been lowered inward, are also different.
The buttresses in front of the side and apse walls of the choir are constructed similarly to those of the nave. Around the ambulatory, which is semicircular in plan, are grouped in the middle with three wreath chapels with floor plans on half-decagonal corners, which are followed by short rectangles that are covered by roofs in the form of half-decagonal pyramids with short gable roofs. They are flanked by chapels on polygonal ground plans. The windows of the chapels are slender and ogival and adorned with Gothic tracery.
All wall sections of the wreath chapels are separated by buttresses of rectangular cross-section, which are stepped several times in height. The windows of the wreath chapels all stand on a cantilever profile, which is led around the entire chapel wreath with its buttresses at the same height.
In the second and third yoke of the choir, a two-storey wing is arranged on the south side. Occasionally, small rectangular windows that are barred are left open in its almost completely closed outer walls. Presumably these are rooms in which the church treasure is housed.
Bell tower
The only bell tower stands on the south side of the nave in the first yoke instead of a chapel. Its almost square floor plan has strong walls on the ground floor with reinforcements at the edges.
The tower is divided into three floors with almost the same outlines. The ground floor extends to about the height of the nave eaves of the nave. The following two are slightly higher than half the height of the ground floor. The north side of the ground floor is completely covered by the central nave. The east side is partially covered by the adjoining chapel.
The edges of the square outline are extended by pillars, which are probably octagonal in the ground plan. The south-eastern one contains a spiral staircase over the entire height, with slit-like windows on the ground floor, through which one reaches the bell chamber and the accessible tower roof. On the second floor, medium-sized ogival windows are left open on all sides. You can see from the sound lamellas that these openings are sound arcades in the bell chamber. In the middle floor there is probably only a much wider, ogival window with sound lamellas on the east side, thus also leading to a bell house. The south side and probably also the west and north sides, the last two very close to the gable roof of the transept and the central nave, are closed. The ground floor only has an ogival window opening on the east side, presumably also a door to the roof area.
The storeys are closed on the top by strong, multi-stepped and profiled cantilever consoles, which are also led around the corner pillars. Along with stone balustrades with artistic tracery, walkways were created all around. Extensive stone gargoyles protrude from the outer corners of the cantilever consoles.
On the free sides of the octagonal pillars, slender, grooved niches are let in over the entire height of the storey, which are covered by slightly pointed domes, which in turn are crowned by steep triangular gables with pointed pinnacles. Individual human figures stand on cantilever console stones, the importance of which was certainly known to the believers at the time of the building. On the second floor there is only a single row of figures at the top of the niches. On the first floor the figures are placed in two rows one above the other. On the closed south wall on the first floor there is a row of figures in the same niches at medium height. Some of the niches on all sides are empty. Wall areas that were left free from the aforementioned decorations, such as those in the window spandrels, are richly decorated in the Renaissance style, which here is very reminiscent of the Gothic.
On the south-west corner of the tower, the pillar is a little higher. At the opposite north end of the first yoke you can see the stump of the second tower planned here with significantly smaller wall dimensions. He remains at the height below the chapel and aisle roof. During the wars of religion, further construction of this tower was stopped.
literature
- Klaus Bussmann : Burgundy (= DuMont art travel guide). 13th edition. DuMont, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-7701-0846-9 , p. 112, figs. 79-83.
- Christian Sapin (Ed.): La cathédrale de Nevers. You baptistère paleochrétien au chevet roman. SFA, Paris 1995, OCLC 34152695 .
- Rolf Toman, Ulrike Laule: Burgundy, architecture-art-landscape. Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-8290-2707-9 .
Individual evidence
Individual references refer to historical data, developments and connections. Architectures, their integration into the environment, outdoor facilities, artistic works of art and the like are evidenced by photos and graphics.
- ^ A b c d Rolf Toman, Ulrike Laule: Burgundy, architecture-art-landscape. Könemann, p. 362.
- ^ Basilique-Cathédrale Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Juliette on gcatholic.org
- ^ Rolf Toman, Ulrike Laule: Burgundy, architecture-art-landscape. Könemann, p. 363.
- ^ Burgundy - delights for the mind and palate - page: 2/3 Vézelay, Bibracte and Autun ( Memento of June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Burgundy, monasteries-castles-historic cities and the cultures of wine-growing in the heart of France. (= DuMont Art Travel Guide). 2003, p. 195.
- ↑ Thorsten Droste: "Burgundy" monasteries-castles-historical cities and the cultures of viticulture in the heart of France. (= DuMont art travel guide). 2003, p. 196.
Web links
- St-Cyr-et-Ste-Julitte Cathedral, Nevers, Burgundy - www.kathedralen.net
- Nevers Cathedral. In: Structurae
Coordinates: 46 ° 59 ′ 13 " N , 3 ° 9 ′ 24.4" E