Bayonne Cathedral
The Cathedral of Sainte -Marie de Bayonne (also Notre- Dame de Bayonne ) is a 13th and 14th century, built in the Gothic style and consecrated to the Virgin Mary church building in Bayonne in the French department of Pyrénées- Atlantiques ( Aquitaine region ). It is the seat of the diocese and the Bishop of Bayonne. The building is classified as a monument historique since 1862, and thus is a protected monument.
The cathedral, whose construction was begun in 1213, is dominated by two towers of 85 meters high. It contains a reliquary of Saint Leo. When growing a cloister was built in 1240.
Description
The Cathedral of Sainte -Marie stands in the center of Bayonne in the historic center on a hill overlooking the confluence of the Adour and Nive. It appears in the High Gothic style with a recognizable influence of churches in Champagne ( Reims, Soissons ), which is particularly visible in the apse and ambulatory. It is about 80 m long, 33 m wide, and the vault of the nave has a height of 26 m. The spiers rise 70 m, providing for a total height of the cathedral of 80 m.
In the south, a cloister is added to the church. The west side, opposite the municipal library (the former Bishop's Palace ), consists of a large, open on three sides Portal and the two towers framing it. It is the youngest member of the cathedral. The east side of the choir is adjacent to the banks of the Nive.
The floor plan of the cathedral has the classic shape of a cross with a longitudinal and two transepts. Around the choir extends a deal with a seven chapels chapels. The oldest part is the apse from the 13th century. Work on transverse, longitudinal and the lateral naves continued until the 15th century.
In the cathedral gathered in the Middle Ages, pilgrims on the so-called " Voie de Soulac ", one of the French sections of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. A statue of Saint James in pilgrim clothes stands in the south transept. The Church is therefore awarded since 1998 as part of the World Heritage Site by UNESCO " Camino de Santiago in France."
The ship consists of seven Jochen ending in ribbed vaults. It has three floors with large arcades, triforium and high windows. To the north aisle still close to other chapels. The keystones of the vaults are decorated with brightly painted coat of arms and remember the story Bayonne at the time of British rule. So shows the emblem of the English king Edward III. French lilies and leopards English side by side. The beautiful stone can be found in the south transept. It shows a held in green and gold ship, as a sign of the role of the medieval Bayonne as a port city. It is populated by seven sailors, one lamb of God and two control males, and about to soar as the protection of the four evangelists.
The windows of the cathedral date from the early 16th century, from the time of the Renaissance. They show various scenes from the Bible such as the creation of Adam and Eve and scenes from the life of Jesus. Most window, dated 1531, can be found in the chapel of Saint Jerome and show Christ in the exorcism of the demon from the daughter of a Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21-28 EU).
The cloister is one of the largest in France. It was built in the Flamboyant style and dates from the 14th century. In medieval times it was a place for meetings of the districts or associations. The northern gallery and the adjoining southern wall of the cathedral were removed in the 19th century during the restoration of the church by a pupil of Eugène Viollet -le- Duc and built in its place a chapel for the St. Leo again. In the other arcades grave stones from the period have received from the 14th to the 18th century.
In the cathedral, numerous objects, paintings and altars, which are managed as art treasures in the inventory of the Ministry of Culture hide ..
The great organ is in parts back to the first organ from 1488, built by Dominique Kastelbon (Vitoria -Gasteiz ) for the small gallery over the vestry door. This instrument was implemented in 1724 to the new west gallery and expanded several times over the years and restored. Today it has 55 registers on three manuals and pedal. The Spieltrakturen are mechanically, electrically, the Registertrakturen.
History
Previously raised a simple Romanesque cathedral, which was destroyed by fire twice in the years 1258 and 1310 on the site of the present cathedral. The construction of the new cathedral Sainte -Marie was probably begun in the early 13th century and largely completed in the 15th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, initially only the southern tower was built.
The cathedral has undergone numerous restorations and transformations. Among them especially that of the 19th century, stands out for the French architect Émile Boeswillwald responsible, a pupil of Eugène Viollet -le- Duc. He is responsible among other things for the construction of the northern tower and the Gothic spiers. Inside the altars of the chapel ring whose facilities were destroyed during the French Revolution were provided with paintings in the style of the 14th century.
Gallery
Cloister of the Cathedral
West Front of the Cathedral
Gothic canopy of the high altar
Looking through the nave