Langres Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Mammès de Langres) 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 ...

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 ...

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital o ...

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 was erected in the twelfth century, and is dedicated to the 3rd-century martyr

Mammes of Caesarea Saint Mammes (Mamas, Mammas, Mammet) of Caesarea ( el, Μάμας; french: Mammès; it, Mamante; es, Mamés; pt, São Mamede) was a child-martyr of the 3rd century, who was martyred at Caesarea. His parents, Theodotus and Rufina, were also ...

. 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

Bishop of Langres The Roman Catholic Diocese of Langres (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lingonensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Langres'') is a Roman Catholic diocese comprising the ''département'' of Haute-Marne in France. The diocese is now a suffragan in ecclesiastical pr ...

, and is a national monument. The nave and interior are in the Romanesque and

French Gothic French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedra ...

style while the later facade is an example of

French Neoclassical architecture Neoclassicism is a movement in architecture, design and the arts which was dominant in France between about 1760 to 1830. It emerged as a reaction to the frivolity and excessive ornament of the baroque and rococo styles. In architecture it featu ...

History

Romanesque and Gothic construction

At the time that the cathedral was built, the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of Langres was considerably larger; it reached further south and included

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, which did not become a separate diocese until 1731. Around 1140, bishop Geoffroy de La Roche-Vanneau (1091–1162), a close friend of

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through t ...

, took the decision to rebuild the cathedral. At that time the cathedral of Saint-Étienne in

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

, the first fully Gothic cathedral, was already under construction. The choir and the

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

were constructed first, followed by the nave and the transept. The architecture was a blend of Romanesque and the new Gothic. Its form was influenced by the third church of

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

, with its large central vessel in the particular Romanesque style of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, and its three level elevation; large arcades of massive pillars on the ground floor, a narrow triforium or passage above, with Corinthian pilasters; and high windows. The vaults of the ambulatory were supported by Corinthian columns. The choir's

flying buttresses The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

were hidden, but those of the nave can be seen from the outside. It is documented by a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

, who had taken refuge at Sens from 1163 to 1165, that in 1170 building was well underway. It only lacked the first span of the nave and the facade, or west front. In 1190, following the sale of church lands to the west, a last campaign was undertaken with a view to finishing the building.and the cathedral was dedicated in 1196. At that date it appears that only the vaults of the nave were still unfinished. In 1209, the holy relic of the head of Saint Mammes was brought to the cathedral, giving the cathedral enhanced status as a pilgrimage destination. In the thirteenth century the cloister was built (of which two arcades remain today) as well as the chapel of the Virgin in the apse (promoted by the canon of Vergy). In 1314, a fire destroyed the nave's roof.

Renaissance additions - Chapel of the Holy Cross

In the sixteenth century, from 1547 to 1551, the canon d'Amoncourt, vicar-general of Claude de Longwy who was then bishop of Langres, had the chapel of the Holy Cross built in the new Renaissance style on the left-hand side of the nave. In 1555, the Cardinal de Givry added another particular Renaissance feature; a very ornate jube or choir screen, surrounding the area of the church reserved for the clergy. The choir screen survived long after similar screens were demolished in other French cathedrals, due to a change in church doctrine. It survived until the French Revolution, when it was destroyed.

Eighteenth Century - the west front

By the 18th century the Romanesque towers on the west front were in danger of collapse. The bell tower over transept was in such poor state that it had to be removed in 1782. In 1746, the west front also threatened to collapse, and the decision was taken to demolish it. It was rebuilt from 1761 to 1786 in the classical style by the architect Claude-Louis D'Aviler.The works were managed by the architect Jean-Antoine Caristie. Following the French Revolution, the cathedral was closed and was transformed for a time into a Temple of Reason, and then a storehouse for grain. It did not reopen for worship until 1800."Cathedral Saint-Mammés de Langres", www.Patrimoine-histoire.fr

19th and 21st century

Beginning in 1852, the upper parts of the cathedral were renovated by the architect Alphonse Durand. He systematically rebuilt the nave (1853–54), the sacristy (entirely rebuilt between 1857 and 1862), The roof was replaced in 1855, and the choir and apse were restored beginning in 1856. The transept was rebuilt beginning in 1860 and the west front beginning in 1860. Beginning in 1999, the colourful tile roof of the nave and transept was replaced by new tiles organised in the same geometric design as the tiles installed by Durand in the 19th century.

The Exterior

File:Langres - cathédrale - avant 8.jpg, The west front File:Langres - Cathédrale Saint-Mammès vue du chevet.JPG, South side - transept (Center) and chevet (right) File:Langres-Fronton de la cathédrale.jpg, The 18th-century fronton of the cathedral File:Toiture de la cathédrale langres.JPG, The polychrome tile roof, a Burgundy speciality The classical west front or facade was constructed between 1754 and 1768, when it appeared that the Romanesque towers were in danger of collapse. The columns on the facade have capitals of different styles at each level, rising from the

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

the to

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

to the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

, a typical feature of the classical style. The tile roof of the cathedral is from a different tradition, that of the architecture of

. The flying buttresses that support the walls of the nave are largely hidden by walls of the adjoining cloister and chapel, but those of the hemispherical chevet at the east end are dramatically visible.

Interior

File:Plan général de la cathédrale de Langres - Archives nationales (France).jpg, Plan of Langres Cathedral File:Choeur.cathedrale.Langres.png, Elevation of the choir File:2012-09-30 11-51-46-Cathedrale-Saint-Mammes-de-Langres.jpg, Walls of the nave File:2012-09-30 11-57-55-Cathedrale-Saint-Mammes-de-Langres.jpg, The nave looking east File:PM 107715 F Langres.jpg, Ambulatory at the east end The interior is very spacious; 94 meters long, 43 meters long wide, with a height of 23 meters in the nave. It has three levels; very high galleries supported by massive pillars; a narrow gallery, or

triforium A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locate ...

, without windows; and the high windows of the upper level, reaching upward to the vaults. Corinthian columns rise from the pillars and pass between the windows to support the vaults. Bands of sculpture in vegetal motifs decorate the triforium. At the east end, the round point of the choir is surrounded by eight Corinthian columns, forming broken arches and decorated with molding, The apse contains five small chapels; Around the apse are five chapels; only the center, or axis chapel, dates to the earliest Romanesque cathedral; the others were constructed in the 14th century.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross

File:Langres - cathédrale Saint-Mammès - 8.jpg, Chapel of the Holy Cross File:Langres - Cathédrale Saint-Mammès - Chapelle Sainte-Croix.jpg, Caissons of the Ceiling of the Chapel of the Holy Cross The Chapel of the Holy Cross was constructed on the north side of the cathedral between 1547 and 1549, funded by a donation from a chanoine of the cathedral, Jean de Amoncourt. It is considered a particularly accomplished example of

French Renaissance architecture French Renaissance architecture is a style which was prominent between the late 15th and early 17th centuries in the Kingdom of France. It succeeded French Gothic architecture. The style was originally imported from Italy after the Hundred Years ...

. The most distinctive feature is the barrel-vaulted ceiling, decorated with caissons, or sculpted panels, alternating in form from rectangular to oval, each decorated with elaborate designs. The vaults of the chapel are supported by ionic and corninthian columns, while the

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...

is crowned by composite elements of the different orders. The floor is decorated with

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

tiles, made 1551, and restored in the 19th century.

Art and Decoration

File:2012-09-30 12-06-17-Cathedrale-Saint-Mammes-de-Langres.jpg, Bas-relief of a monster on the capital of a column File:Langres-Cathédrale-Chaire (2).jpg, The Pulpit File:Langres (52) Cathédrale Saint-Mammès - Intérieur - Grandes-Orgues - 01.jpg, The cathedral organ, originally in

Morimond Abbey Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Cis ...

File:PM 107723 F Langres.jpg, Resurrection of Lazarus (16th century) File:Langres - cathédrale Saint-Mammès - 12.jpg, Bas relief, "The Procession" (16th century) File:St Mammes (2766491022).jpg, Sculpture of Saint Mammès File:Chapelle d'Amoncourt, Cathédrale de Langres (cropped).jpg, Faience tile floor of the Chapel of Saint Amoncourt (16th century) A considerable portion of the decorative woodwork, as well as the church organ, was acquired at the beginning of the 19th century, following the destruction of

during the French Revolution. Another exceptional element of decoration is the 16th century faience tile floor of the Chapel of Amoncourt, which designated an historic landmark

Notes and Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links (in French)

Fiche du ministère de la culture

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Galerie de photos de la cathédrale de Langres

Cathédrale Saint-Mammès - Inventaire Général du Patrimoine Culturel

Langres (Haute-Marne). Cathédrale Saint-Mammès (Archéologie médiévale Année 1990) - PerséeLocation
{{Authority control Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Churches in Haute-Marne