Arras Cathedral (
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast d'Arras'') is the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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 ...
in the city of
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...
,
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 ...
. The
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 ...
is the seat of the
Bishops of Arras
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Atrebatensis (–Bononiena–Audomarensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer)'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church ...
.
History
The original cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 and 1396, was one of the most beautiful
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
structures in northern France, until it was destroyed in 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 ...
. The cathedral was the resting place of
Louis de Bourbon, ''Légitimé de France'', a legitimated son of Louis XIV and
Louise de La Vallière
Françoise ''Louise'' de La Vallière, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours, born Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière, Mademoiselle de La Vallière (6 August 1644 – 7 June 1710) was a French noblewoman and the first mistress ...
.
Abbey Church of Saint-Vaast
The church of the former
St. Vaast's Abbey was rebuilt beginning in 1750 in
neoclassical style. The design was chosen by the former abbot of St. Vaast's, the
Cardinal de Rohan
Louis René Édouard de Rohan known as Cardinal de Rohan (25 September 1734 – 16 February 1803), ''prince de Rohan-Guéméné'', was a French Bishop of Strasbourg, politician, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and cadet of the Rohan f ...
, and is of remarkable simplicity. It is 'a very large building, the erection of which was begun in 1755 from plans by
Pierre Contant d'Ivry
Pierre Contant d'Ivry (11 May 1698 in Ivry-sur-Seine – 1 October 1777 in Paris), was a French architect and designer working in a chaste and sober Rococo style and in the ''goût grec'' phase of early Neoclassicism.
Early career
An ''Architecte ...
, the architect who later created designs for the
Church of La Madeleine in Paris. The work was interrupted during the Revolution.
["Notre-Dame de l'Assomption et Saint-Vaast", Open Churches]
/ref>
After the Revolution, the Abbey Church was designated as to replace the destroyed cathedral. Work resumed by virtue of a municipal decree dated “Nivôse 27, Year XII”, which ran: “... to erect the edifice, abandoning everything in the original plans connected with decoration and architectural beauty, limiting the work to the requirements of solidity and decency.”
The church was finished in accordance with these prescriptions, being completed in 1834. The interior was of plaster-coated brickwork, whilst the columns were of undressed stone, covered with stone-coloured mortar. The capitals were of stucco-work.'
Description
]
Arras Cathedral was heavily damaged by shelling in April 1917, during the run-up to the Nivelle offensives
The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front in the First World War which was named after General Robert Nivelle, the commander-in-chief of the French metropolitan armies, who led the offens ...
of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and subsequently rebuilt in its previous form.[
A marble statue of the Virgin with Child by ]Jean-Pierre Cortot
Jean-Pierre Cortot (20 August 1787 – 12 August 1843) was a French neoclassical sculptor.
Life
Cortot was born and died in Paris. He was educated at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and won the Prix de Rome in 1809, residing in the Vi ...
was donated by Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
.
Sculptor Marcel Gaumont
Marcel Gaumont was a French sculptor born on 27 January 1880 in Tours. He died in Paris on 20 November 1962.
Biography
Gaumont was a pupil at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and studied under Louis-Ernest Barrias ...
did considerable work on the cathedral. The pulpit depicts Christ amongst his disciples and the four evangelists. He also provided the baptismal font which shows on one side the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, and on the other Saint Vaast blessing a group of people.[ ]Alexandre Descatoire
Alexandre Descatoire (22 August 1874 – 7 March 1949) was a French sculptor.
Biography
Descatoire was born in Douai and was a pupil of André-Louis-Adolphe Laoust. Educated at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Descatoir ...
did the Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...
.
The cathedral is adjacent to the Musée des beaux-arts d'Arras
The Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Arras is located in the old Abbey of St. Vaast in Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.
Collection
Paintings
The museum's collection includes paintings of the Flemish and Dutch schools including Jehan Belleg ...
, formerly the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Vaast
The Abbey of St Vaast (french: Abbaye de Saint-Vaast) was a Benedictine monastery situated in Arras, ''département'' of Pas-de-Calais, France.
History
The abbey was founded in 667. Saint Vedast, or Vaast (c. 453–540) was the first Bishop ...
.
References
{{Authority control
Roman Catholic cathedrals in France
Basilica churches in France
Churches in Pas-de-Calais
Buildings and structures in Arras
Monuments historiques of Pas-de-Calais