Vienne Cathedral: A Historic Cathedral and Co-Cathedral in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- French, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page20 sections
History
Vienne Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Maurice, is a historic cathedral in Vienne, France, whose present Romanesque and Gothic building developed from a Christian site used since at least the fourth century. The former cathedral of the Archdiocese of Vienne was first recorded in 314, when Bishop Verus attended the Council of Arles. It later served as the seat of the Primacy of the Seven Provinces, an ecclesiastical distinction held by the archbishops of Vienne.
Early cathedral and medieval rebuilding
The cathedral was reconstructed around 1030 to 1070 under Archbishop Léger. Construction of the present building began around 1130 in the Romanesque style, with the earliest surviving sections found in the nave bays between the fifth and eleventh bays. Building continued during the thirteenth century, when the design developed in a Gothic direction, and work on the cathedral continued into the sixteenth century, especially on the façade. The final stone was placed in 1529. Guillaume de l’Œuvre has been proposed as the architect.
Pope Innocent IV consecrated the cathedral on 20 April 1251, dedicating it to Saint Maurice. Saint Maurice of Agaune was a Christian martyr traditionally associated with the Theban Legion and its martyrdom in the Alps. The dedication was reinforced by the arrival of relics attributed to Saint Maurice and his companion soldiers in 718.
Archbishops, rulers, and councils
The cathedral has been associated with major ecclesiastical and political figures. King Boson of Burgundy, who was also count of Vienne, Arles, and Provence, was buried there in 887. An epitaph in the left aisle commemorates his burial.
On 9 February 1119, Archbishop Gui of Burgundy was crowned in the cathedral after being elected pope at Cluny. He took the name Callixtus II. On 25 February 1120, Callixtus II confirmed the primacy of the archbishops of Vienne over those of Auch, Bordeaux, Bourges, Embrun, Narbonne, and Tarentaise, and granted them the title “primate of primates.” The nine-hundredth anniversary of his birth was commemorated in February 1988.
From October 1311 to April 1312, Pope Clement V convened the Council of Vienne in the cathedral. The council ordered the suppression of the Knights Templar. In July 1548, the heart of Dauphin François, son of King Francis I of France, was deposited in the choir. A plaque before the high altar marks the location.
Religious wars and modern changes
During the French Wars of Religion, Huguenot troops associated with the Baron des Adrets sacked the cathedral. On 20 March 1562, they destroyed most of its stained glass and all of the façade sculptures.
The French Revolution brought a major change in the cathedral’s institutional status. The Archdiocese of Vienne was suppressed in 1790, and the former cathedral was converted into a hay store and barracks. It returned to religious use in 1802 and became an ordinary parish church in 1801. Two cloisters, three chapels, and the episcopal palace were demolished in 1803 and 1804 during the reorganization of the surrounding urban fabric. Vienne Cathedral is now a co-cathedral of the Diocese of Grenoble-Vienne, meaning that it shares cathedral status with another church in the same diocese.
A fire damaged the north tower in 1869. Restoration begun in September 2006 included cleaning by sandblasting, partial replacement of sculpted furnishings, and archaeological monitoring. The north tower was completely restored between 2015 and 2017. The cathedral has been protected as a French monument historique since its listing under the 1840 designation.
Remains
Vienne Cathedral stands at the upper end of a staircase on Place Saint-Maurice. Its plan has three aisles, while the central vessel rises through large arcades, a triforium, and upper windows. A triforium is an upper passage or gallery opening into the central space of a church, and the upper windows form its highest illuminated level. The choir is raised above the nave to accommodate the slope of the ground. The nave measures 90 metres in length and 33 metres in height, and the building is 33 metres wide.
Façade and portals
Principal façade
The principal façade is the latest major part of the cathedral. Built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, it belongs to the Flamboyant Gothic style, a late Gothic form characterized by elaborate, flame-like tracery and ornament. It has two towers and a large window composed of a rose window and lancets. Three richly decorated portals organize the lower façade.
South portal
The late-fourteenth-century south portal contains figures of musician angels and prophets. Its carved decoration belongs to the sculptural program of the façade, whose tympana and niches were destroyed during the sixteenth-century religious wars. The richly carved archivolts survived; an archivolt is a decorated band that follows the curve of an arch.
North portal
The late-fifteenth-century north portal is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Musician angels and choristers celebrate the Coronation of the Mother of Christ within its sculptural decoration.
Central portal
The central portal, also dating from the late fifteenth century, presents scenes from the Old and New Testaments together with prophets and kings. Its sculpture includes personifications of Ecclesia and Synagoga.
Earlier north entrance and wall arcades
A thirteenth-century north portal has a lintel carved with griffins, reused from an ancient building. Above it, the north wall is crowned by richly sculpted arcades dating from the twelfth century.
Interior sculpture and furnishings
Romanesque capitals
Approximately sixty Romanesque capitals from the first half of the twelfth century remain in the cathedral. Their carvings combine narrative scenes, including King David as a musician and the Holy Women at the Tomb, with vegetal decoration.
Apostle statues
Three monumental statues of apostles from the middle of the twelfth century stand in the north porch. Their forms reflect artistic exchanges between Vienne and Autun during that period.
Former rood-screen sculpture
Thirteenth-century sculptural groups probably came from the former rood screen, a decorated partition separating the choir from the nave. In the left aisle, a bas-relief above a doorway shows the Magi before Herod. Another bas-relief in the right aisle depicts the Adoration of the Magi.
Choir and apse
Five late-sixteenth-century Flemish tapestries hang around the choir and depict episodes from the life of Saint Maurice. The choir also contains the high altar made by Michel-Ange Slodtz from ancient marble brought from Rome. A stone episcopal seat, or cathedra, dating from the thirteenth century is set into the wall of the central apse. A cathedra is the ceremonial seat of a bishop.
A sixteenth-century stained-glass window in the apse of the right aisle depicts the Adoration of the Magi in its upper section. Below, Saint Maurice and Saint James flank a kneeling donor accompanied by Saint Anthony, the donor’s patron saint.
Archbishops’ mausoleum
The right side of the choir contains the mausoleum of the archbishops of Vienne Armand de Montmorin and Henri Oswald de La Tour d’Auvergne. Michel-Ange Slodtz received the commission in 1740. Made in Rome and delivered to Vienne in 1747, the monument shows one archbishop reclining on the sarcophagus while the other approaches him.
Relics and bells
Reliquary of Saint Maurice
A reliquary head preserves bones attributed to Saint Maurice of Agaune, who died in 287. A reliquary is a container or sculptural vessel made to preserve relics. The cathedral received relics of Saint Maurice and his companion soldiers in 718, while much of the associated relic treasure remains at the Territorial Abbey of Saint Maurice of Agaune.
North tower bells
Five bells hang in the belfry of the north tower. The Paccard Foundry of Annecy cast two of them in 1870 and three in 1929. The two bells cast in 1870 came from the nearby Chapel of Saint Theodore.
