Agen Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Caprais d'Agen) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

located in

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Aquitaine,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is dedicated to Saint Caprasius. It was built in the 12th century as a collegiate

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

and is a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. The cathedral was listed as an historic monument in 1863. Situated on one of four pilgrims' ways toward Santiago de Compostela, Spain, its World Heritage Site status falls under the category of

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France UNESCO designated the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France as a World Heritage Site in December 1998. The routes pass through the following regions of France: Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Ile-de ...

History

Agen Cathedral's visible structure dates to the 12th century, when it was built as a collegiate church of canons dedicated to Saint Caprasius of Agen (french: Saint Caprais), on the foundations of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

sacked by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

in 853 but thereafter restored. It was sacked again in December 1561 during the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. At the onset of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

in 1789 the church lost its religious function and was used instead as a fodder store before being reopened in 1796. It was elevated to the status of the cathedral of the diocese of Agen in 1801, replacing the former cathedral dedicated to

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

(''Saint Étienne''), which was destroyed during the Revolution. The cathedral appears in one of the earliest color photographs ever taken by Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron in 1877. In 1998 this monument along the World Heritage Site route was among the first 75 designated, with three following the year after.

Organs

The main

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

built by Stoltz featured in the

Universal Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

of 1855 in Paris, according to legend, offered by the Empress Eugénie in 1858 to the cathedral of Agen that hitherto had no instrument. It is the largest instrument in the department of Lot-et-Garonne, with 45 registers spread over three manuals and a pedal-board. It is a nationally listed historical monument and so too is the choir organ built by the makers Magen in 1885, with 15 registers, two manuals and a pedal-board.

Architecture

As with many churches in southern France, its plan is the form of a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

. The nave dates from the 13th century. Interesting architectural features include the Romanesque apse which is extended by a Gothic frame along a single nave. Replacing an old wooden bell tower, the current tower was built in 1835 at the behest of Bishop Lévézou de Vezins and has the peculiarity of being composed of three Gothic styles, curiously presented in reverse chronological order, ascending. The paintings on the walls and ceilings represent the history of the coming of Christianity to the region. A centrepiece is given to the first

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s of Agen. Other paintings are by series: the Evangelists, the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

, the patriarchs (Abraham, Noah ...) and the great

kings of Israel This article is an overview of the kings of the United Kingdom of Israel as well as those of its successor states and classical period kingdoms ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty and Herodian dynasty. Kings of Ancient Israel and Judah The He ...

. The cathedral's nave is much shorter than might be expected judging from the size of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

: this was the consequence of earlier political and financial difficulties.

Gallery

(Agen) Cathédrale Saint-Caprais - Plafond de la croisée du transept.jpg, Ceiling of the crossing of the transept File:Cathédrale Saint-Caprais Agen Interieur4.JPG, Chancel and north transept File:Cathédrale Saint-Caprais Agen Interieur5.JPG, Interior (Agen) Cathédrale Saint-Caprais - Orgue de tribune PalissyPM47000367.jpg, Main organ File:Cul.de.lampe.cathedrale.Agen.png, Cul-de-lampe, north transept ''Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française'' (from the 11th to the 16th century),

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. H ...

References

;Additional sources * Pierre Dubourg-Noves, ''Guyenne romane'', Éditions du Zodiaque, La Pierre-qui-Vire (France), 1969 ; pp. 254–256. * Stéphane Thouin, ''La restauration de la cathédrale Saint-Caprais, Agen, Lot-et-Garonne'', in Monumental, Paris, Éditions du Patrimoine, 2004, semestriel 2, Chantiers/Actualités, pp. 20–25, .

External links

Location
{{coord, 44, 12, 24, N, 0, 37, 9, E, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title

Churches in Lot-et-Garonne Monuments historiques of Nouvelle-Aquitaine World Heritage Sites in France Agen