Tours Cathedral

Commons
nommonument = Cathedrale Saint-Gatien of Tours
photo = Cathédrale Saint-Gatien de Tours.jpg
nomlocal =
city = Tours
country = France
region = Centre Region
departement = Indre-et-Loire
religion = Romain Catholic
type = Cathedrale
rattachement = Archidiocèse de Tours (siège)
constr. start = 1170
constr. end = 1547
style = Gothique
classified = Monument historique (1862)Saint Gation's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Tours diocese and the metropolitan cathedral of the Tours ecclesiastic procvince, in France.

Facts

The Saint-Gatien cathedral was built between 1170 and 1547. At its construction date, it was located at the south enf of the bridge over the Loire, on the road from Paris to south-west of France.It is a classified Monument Historique since 1862.

Evolution

History

The first cathedral of Saint-Maurice was build by Lidoire, évêque de Tours from 337 to 371 preceding Martin. Burnt in 561, it was restored by Grégoire of Tours and dedicated in 590. Its location, at the south-west angle of the "castrum", as well as its west orientation makes its access in bayenet from the roadway crossing the city, and originally accessed through the late-antique surrounding wall. Such a configuration is quite rare [Configuration also found in Soissons after thath the cathédrale was rebuild and extended during the XIIIth century.] .

The cathedral was then rebuild during the second quarter of the XIIe century and again burnt in 1166 during the conflict engaging Louis VII of France and Henri II of England (also count of Anjou, the neighboring region).

The present cathedral replaces the XIIth century roman building. The first faire concerned the south brace and the towers, as soon as 1170. The chancel was rebuild from 1236 to 1279 by Étienne de Mortagne. The navel took more time to build. The architect Simon du Mans rebuilds the transept and starts the navel, including six spans, aisle and chapel, edified during the XIVth century — the first tow spans corresponds too those of the old roman cathedral and date back from the XIIth century. the navel is only finished by the XVth century by architects Jean de Dammartin, Jean Papin and Jean Durand, thanks to liberality offered by Charles VII and the duc of Brittany Jean V. While building the present cathedral, the navel was then extended westward and the towers surrounding its entrance were erected during the first half of the XVth century, the first tower in 1507 by Pierre de Valence culminating at 87m and the second towers during 1534 and 1547 by Pierre Gadier.Highlighting the special feature of the building, called "supra", the towers were erected outside of the old city. The late-antique surrounding wall is visible in cross section at the the rear of the towers from the north.

In 1356, the cathedral received its new name of saint Gatien.

pecifications

*Total length : 97 m
*Width : 28 m
*Height under vaults : 29 m
*North tower's height : 87 m

Its construction having been particularly slow [Which has led to a local saying : "« ... avant que la cathédrale ne soit finie »" "« ... not until the cathedral is finished »" to mention something particularly long and difficult to achieve] , it presents a rather complete mix of French religious types of architectures from the XIIth century to the XVth. For example, the towers' buttress are roman, the ornamentation generally is pure Gothic, and the towers' summit are Renaissance beginning of the XVIth century.

Mobilier

L'orgue, donné par l'archevêque Martin de Beaune, est attribué à Barnabé Delanoue et date du XVIe siècle. On peut également voir dans la cathédrale, le tombeau des enfants de Charles VIII et d'Anne de Bretagne, morts en bas-âge. Ce tombeau, en marbre de Carrare, dont les gisants rappellent la tradition médiévale française de la fin du XVe siècle (école de Michel Colombe) et dont la cuve, réalisée par Jérôme de Fiésole, illustre l'art italien , se trouvait en 1506 dans la collégiale Saint-Martin avant d'être déplacé en 1834 à Saint-Gatien.

Environnement

Au nord de la cathédrale se trouve un petit cloître, également d'époque Renaissance. Ce cloître porte le nom de « cloître de la Psalette », en référence à sa fonction d'école des psaumes (chants religieux).Au sud de la cathédrale, l'ancien palais de l'archevêque, bâti au début XVIIIe siècle, est depuis le Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours.

Notes

Liens externes

* [http://fr.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0011458 Fiche sur le site Structurae.de]
* [http://www.culture.fr/documentation/merimee/accueil.htm Base de données Mérimée]
* fr [http://www.gotik-romanik.de/ToursThumbnails/Thumbnails.html Site Gotik-Romanik - Photos et plan de la cathédrale Saint-Gatien de Tours]
* [http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=q&hl=fr&geocode=&q=tours,+cath%C3%A9drale+saint-gatien&sll=47.398349,2.988281&sspn=7.437551,22.763672&ie=UTF8&ll=47.39555,0.694494&spn=0.000908,0.002779&t=h&z=19 Vue aérienne sur google maps]