Nevers Cathedral: A Romanesque and Gothic Cathedral in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Carolingian, French, Roman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page22 sections
History
Nevers Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitta, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in France that developed from an early Christian episcopal center into a major Romanesque and Gothic church. Dedicated to Saint Cyr, a child martyr traditionally associated with Tarsus, and his mother Saint Julitta, it is the seat of the Diocese of Nevers and has held the title of minor basilica since 1868.
Early Christian Foundations
The cathedral stands on a long-established religious site. Excavations at the foot of the building uncovered remains of a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Janus. A Christian episcopal center was established at Nevers during the fifth or sixth century, with an early church dedicated to Saints Gervais and Protais. Its choir was oriented westward, a feature that contributed to the unusual arrangement of the later cathedral.
The cult of Saints Cyr and Julitta spread into Gaul from the fifth century. Bishop Jerome of Nevers, who held office from 800 to 816, placed the diocese under Saint Cyr’s patronage. He obtained relics of Cyr and Julitta from Auxerre and Poitou and formally dedicated the cathedral to them in the early ninth century.
A tradition links the rebuilding and rededication of the cathedral with a dream attributed to Charlemagne, the Frankish ruler and emperor who reigned from 768 to 814. In the story, a child riding a wild boar appeared in the dream. Bishop Jerome interpreted the child as Saint Cyr and the requested garment as the restoration of confiscated Church property and the cathedral itself. Charlemagne was said to have supplied money and goods, allowing the building to be reconstructed.
Relics and Medieval Reconstruction
The relics of the two martyrs reached Nevers in two principal transfers. A portion of Saint Cyr was probably obtained from Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe during the ninth century. During the reign of King Raoul, in the first third of the tenth century, the bodies of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitta were brought from Saint-Amatre in Auxerre. Miracles were reported at Nevers during this second translation, although their details are unknown.
King Raoul had Saint Cyr’s head enclosed in gold during the episcopate of Bishop Tedalgrin, who served from 928 to 947. In 1594, the relics then held at Nevers were united in a single reliquary. The collection was hidden at Nolay in 1793 to protect it from revolutionary destruction. It was placed in a neo-Byzantine reliquary in 1861 and installed in the ciborium of the new high altar in 1872. The reliquary disappeared during the bombing of 16 July 1944.
The late-eighth-century cathedral had fallen into very poor condition by the time its medieval rebuilding began. A fire in 1211 destroyed the Romanesque nave. Bishop Guillaume I de Saint-Lazare rebuilt the principal body of the church in the new Gothic style, while the surviving Romanesque choir and transept were retained so that worship could continue during construction.
Further fires in 1228 and 1308 led to the construction of a new Gothic eastern choir. The rebuilt cathedral was consecrated in 1331 by Pierre La Palud, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The eastern choir was joined to the Gothic nave, while the Romanesque western transept became a kind of narthex, or entrance hall.
Late Medieval and Early Modern Changes
Construction of the southern tower began in the early fourteenth century and continued into the sixteenth century. Work resumed under Bishop Jean Bohier and was completed in 1528 under Bishop Jean III de Navarre, giving the structure its name, the Bohier Tower. A northern tower was begun but remained unfinished after construction was halted during the Wars of Religion, the sixteenth-century conflicts between French Catholics and Protestants.
Radiating chapels were added to the Gothic choir during the fifteenth century. Further Flamboyant Gothic chapels, using the elaborate flame-like tracery of the late Gothic style, were built along the nave in the sixteenth century. The Immaculate Conception chapel reflects the early spread of this devotion in the Nivernais, before the Immaculate Conception was defined as Catholic dogma in 1854.
In the second half of the eighteenth century, Bishop Jean-Antoine Tinseau directed a major restoration campaign. The roof covering was changed from Burgundy flat tiles to slate, the choir was repaved, new choir woodwork and an ironwork screen were installed, and a lead-and-slate campanile was added to the nave roof.
Revolution, Restoration, and War Damage
The French Revolution caused extensive damage and loss. Tombs in the nave were demolished, portals and statues were mutilated or removed, and other furnishings were dispersed. During the nineteenth century, part of the choir wall was demolished, choir furnishings were dismantled, and attempts to restore terrace roofs with cement created serious problems. Cleaning the walls and vaults also removed much of the surviving painted decoration and original polychromy.
The historic altar made by Jean de Borset was demolished and replaced by Jean Gautherin’s stone Gothic ciborium. The change followed a vow made by the people of Nevers during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Objects from other churches demolished in Nevers were also brought into the cathedral, including the fifteenth-century Entombment group.
Nevers Cathedral was classified as a historic monument in 1862. It was heavily damaged during an accidental Allied bombing raid on the night of 15 to 16 July 1944, when bombs intended for railway depots struck the old center of Nevers. Two bombs hit the Gothic choir, destroying its vaults, stained glass, and furnishings, damaging episcopal burials, and destroying the Cavaillé-Coll organ installed in 1867.
Reconstruction of the main structure took place from 1946 to 1966 and aimed to reproduce the damaged fabric. Archaeological investigations beneath the choir revealed the pre-Romanesque baptistery, the episcopal chapel of Saint John, the narthex, and the entrance portal of the Romanesque cathedral. Later preventive excavations uncovered a possible ancient or fifth- to sixth-century mosaic near the cathedral and the eighteenth-century ornamental basin of the former episcopal palace.
The postwar stained-glass program was carried out gradually from 1976 to 2009, replacing most of the destroyed windows with works by contemporary artists. In the twenty-first century, the cathedral benefited from the French Cathedrals Plan. Restoration of the Gothic chevet was followed by work on the eighteen lateral chapels beginning in 2021. Pope Pius IX granted the title of minor basilica in 1868 at the request of Bishop Théodore-Augustin Forcade.
Remains
Nevers Cathedral is approximately 101 metres long and combines a Romanesque western complex with a Gothic nave and eastern choir. The arrangement creates two opposing choirs, one Romanesque at the west and one Gothic at the east, an exceptionally rare configuration in French architecture. The reason for the misalignment and the survival of two choirs remains uncertain.
Early Episcopal Complex
Baptistery
The independent baptistery belonged to the early episcopal complex and was intended for adult baptism. It contained a central baptismal pool, an ambulatory, or passage around the pool, defined by eight marble columns, a domed roof decorated with mosaics, and two entrances linking it to the other buildings. The bishop celebrated baptisms there once a year at Easter. Its surviving remains include a circular sixth-century pool and an overlying octagonal Carolingian pool. They are now inaccessible and are represented by a floor plan in the cathedral.
Romanesque Western Complex
Western Choir and Crypt
The Romanesque western choir, chiefly dating from the eleventh century, is dedicated to Saint Julitta. A barrel-vaulted approach leads to a raised apse reached by twelve steps. The apse has a half-dome, or cul-de-four vault, rounded arcades, engaged columns, and sculpted capitals decorated with water-leaf and palmette motifs. Its major fresco shows Christ in Glory surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists and the Elders of the Apocalypse.
An early Romanesque crypt lies beneath the western choir. Probably dating from the eleventh or the first half of the twelfth century, it has three aisles divided into three bays, groin vaults, engaged columns, a western half-dome vault, and an ancient red terracotta floor with drawn designs. Two lateral vaulted galleries served different burial purposes. One was a charnel space for the parish of Saint John, while the other became a burial place for cathedral canons in 1776.
Entombment Group
The Romanesque crypt houses a fifteenth-century Entombment group. Seven life-size polychrome statues depict Christ’s burial, including Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John the Evangelist. The group was restored in the nineteenth century and shows the influence of Flemish art.
Western Transept
The Romanesque western transept survives from the eleventh-century cathedral associated with Bishop Hugues de Champallement. Originally covered by a timber roof, it later received Gothic rib vaults. Its arms are separated from the crossing by rounded arcades supported by massive circular columns. The northern arm retains a Romanesque apsidiole, or small attached apse, with blocked round-headed windows.
Western Apse
The Romanesque western apse has four later buttresses, billet moulding around its semicircular wall, and concealed relieving arches. Twelfth-century modillions, projecting blocks supporting a cornice, are carved with volutes and animal heads. The roof is covered with red Roman-format monk-and-nun tiles.
Gothic Nave and Eastern Choir
Nave
Built in the first half of the thirteenth century, the Gothic nave has five bays and three vertical levels. Large pointed arcades support a blind triforium, an arcaded passage above the main arcade, with a Burgundian passage, followed by high windows. Round piers carry engaged columns and clustered vault supports, while pointed arches and four-part rib vaults rise above foliage-carved bosses. The nave is about 22.30 metres high beneath its vaults, with side aisles about 10.20 metres high. It is approximately 10.75 metres wide between the piers and about 32.20 metres wide including the chapels.
About thirty different sculpted figures are attached to the colonnettes of the nave triforium. They represent people from thirteenth-century society, including noblewomen, peasants, an ecclesiastic, a monk, bourgeois, merchants, a bishop, entertainers, and players of bowling or soule. Angels occupy the spandrels, holding censers, crowns, vessels, or martyr’s palms.
Eastern Choir and Chapels
The Gothic eastern choir has four bays and a five-sided polygonal termination. Its choir, ambulatory, and five radiating chapels are rib-vaulted. The choir bends slightly toward the south rather than following the nave’s axis, and the reason for this deviation is unknown. Its triforium is open and glazed, while the upper windows contain elaborate Rayonnant tracery, an early Gothic treatment emphasizing large windows and radiating patterns.
Seven named chapels open from the Gothic choir: the chapels of Pentecost, the Baptism of Christ, the Crossing of the Red Sea, Creation and the Church in Construction, the Joyful Mysteries, the Blessed Sacrament, and Remembrance. They have rib vaults, paired Gothic windows, trefoil arcades, and foliage-carved bosses.
Lateral Chapels
Later chapels line the nave and choir. On the south side are the chapels of Fontenay, Saint Francis Xavier, the Curé of Ars, and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. On the north are the chapels of the Sacred Heart, Saint Clare, Saint Jude, and Saint Solange. A fifteenth-century stone retable depicting the life of Saint John the Baptist survives in a north-side chapel, while a 1550 stone enclosure remains in another.
Towers and Portals
Bohier Tower
The Bohier Tower rises 52 metres on the south side of the nave. Its lower stage dates from the fourteenth century, while its two upper stages were built in the early sixteenth century. Polygonal buttresses, a spiral staircase, and forty-three large statues beneath canopies define the tower. Arranged in three registers, the statues represent patriarchs, apostles, prophets, Old Testament figures, and saints regarded as protectors of the city. Many have been replaced or repaired.
Restoration has removed severely weathered original statues for safekeeping and replaced them with sculpted copies. The first restored statues were returned in 2011, and the first sixteenth-century copies were installed on the south façade in 2014.
Northern Tower
The unfinished northern tower survives only as a lower structure. It contains one of the cathedral’s oldest staircases, a Saint-Gilles-type spiral stair, and is largely concealed within the present silhouette of the building.
Portals
The thirteenth-century north portal was formerly richly decorated. Its statues were destroyed during the Wars of Religion, and its tympanum was damaged during the Revolution. The present portal has a central pier, four recessed moulded archivolts, trefoil arcades, and the surviving sculpted base of the former Saint Christopher statue.
The fifteenth-century south portal, built under Bishop Pierre de Fontenay and restored in the nineteenth century, is known as the Loire portal. It has a porch and a basket-handle doorway divided by a central pier. Its sculpture includes shields suspended from ribbons and chains among oak branches and vine leaves.
Windows, Furnishings, and Organ
The eight nave windows have individually varied late-fifteenth- or early-sixteenth-century tracery, including highly contorted Flamboyant forms known as soufflets and mouchettes. A modern gallery of trefoil arcades runs along the nave roof. The cathedral’s buttresses include flat Romanesque supports, two-level Gothic flying buttresses, pinnacles, carved waterspouts, and stone balustrades. Some waterspouts have been adapted to receive modern rainwater downpipes.
The late twentieth-century stained-glass program covers 130 openings and approximately 1,052 square metres of glazing. Jean-Michel Alberola created windows for the radiating chapels and Romanesque transept, Claude Viallat worked in the high windows of the Gothic choir, Gottfried Honegger designed the nave’s high windows and the crypt glazing, Raoul Ubac worked in the Romanesque choir, and François Rouan created windows for the nave chapels, the Gothic pseudo-transept, and the south portal. The program uses abstract or non-figurative forms and has been criticized for lacking overall cohesion.
Ubac’s restrained compositions occupy the western choir and its oculus. Viallat’s Gothic choir windows use red, blue, and gold with repeated knucklebone-like motifs. Honegger’s nave windows use white fields crossed by blue arcs on the north side and red arcs on the south. Alberola’s windows in the radiating chapels depict episodes from salvation history, the lives of Mary, Pentecost, the building of the Church, and the cathedral’s patron saints. His Romanesque-transept windows use symbols from the Apocalypse, including the tau, the number 144,000, an open door, swords, seven candlesticks, the book, the hand of God, seven arrows, and the four apocalyptic horsemen.
The cathedral preserves a fifteenth-century Flemish-influenced Pietà from the former church of Saint-Arigle, destroyed during the Revolution. Other surviving objects include sixteenth-century statues of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitta and of Christ on the Cross, a thirteenth-century polychrome wooden Christ, a fifteenth-century retable of the Virgin dated 1444, and a sixteenth-century Renaissance clock with an automaton of a knight striking a bell and Saint Michael striking a dragon. Eighteenth-century ironwork furnishings, fragments of tomb slabs, and the surviving eighteenth-century choir stalls also remain.
The present organ replaced the Cavaillé-Coll instrument destroyed in 1944. Built in 1978 by Danion-Gonzalez, it stands in a neoclassical case that partly reuses woodwork from the former choir stalls. The instrument has three manuals, a pedalboard, and forty-four stops, with mechanical note action and electrical stop action.
