Lille Cathedral

The Cathedral of Lille ( Basilique - Cathédrale Notre -Dame-de -la- Treille de Lille) is the bishop's church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lille in Lille, northern France. It was started in 1854 as a monumental shrine for the miraculous image of Our Lady of Treille in the Gothic Revival style and completed with the modern western façade in 1999. Since 1904 she is Minor Basilica, since 1913 Cathedral of the newly established Diocese of Lille. With this it was raised in 2008 to the Metropolitan seat.

Marie Picture

The miraculous image of Our Lady of Treille was a wooden sculpture of Mary with the child by the end of the 12th century, which was preserved since the mid-13th century in the collegiate church of Saint -Pierre in Lille and revered as miraculous. Your festival on Sunday after Trinity was celebrated with pilgrimage, procession and carnival. Since 1634 Our love was wife of Treille patron saint of Lille.

The destruction and removal of Saint- Pierre in the course of the French Revolution a pin priest hid the statue. 1801 she came to the church of Sainte - Catherine, where they remained unnoticed at first. With the renouveau catholique, the veneration of Our Lady was Mrs. Treille revived, and the late 1840s preconceived wealthy citizens of Lille, the plan, the city's patron saint in the historic city center, a large church in the style of French Gothic building.

In 1874, twenty years after the foundation stone was laid, the miraculous image of the finished choir of the church was solemnly crowned.

In July 1959, the altverehrte image of Mary was stolen. In its place, Marie Madeleine Weerts created a replica.

Church

History and Architecture

The foundation stone of St. Mary's Church of Lille was laid on July 1, 1854, a few months before the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The project came with its size to the limits of realizable, which is reflected in the long construction period and ultimately unfinished state of the church. Plans for the huge Basilica on the cross floor plan created Charles Leroy from Lille.

Until 1869, the choir was completed fünfjochige dealing with a polygonal apse and was ordained. 1874, on the occasion of the coronation of Marie image, the basilica was donated a large bells, for the effect on the south side of a freestanding three-story bell tower was built. In this temporary it remained until today. Until 1897 to 1908 was followed by the choir apex chapel, a church hall, then the other four octagons of the chapel wreath. Before the start of the First World War nor could the sacristy are added.

In the 20th century drove Cardinal Achille Liénart, Bishop of Lille from 1928 to 1968, the construction significantly advanced.

From 1922 to 1938 the transept was built with large, many figures Portaltympana at the two three-nave and three-pile arms. Simultaneously with 2,500 m2, the largest in Europe, the crypt was completed. 1941, during World War II, construction began on the sechsjochigen nave, which was completed in 1947 to the height of the triforium. At this time, a freeze was decided and the nave was given a temporary west wall.

1953 the decision was made to perform the vault lower and easier than planned. Still took its completion by 1974. 1991 finally it was decided to cancel the provisional accounts and West instead of the planned neo-Gothic west facade to build with tracery rose window and two large towers a postmodern, only innuendo as neo-Gothic face side, with round windows. This was until 1999 as an independent structure made mostly transparent materials, designed by Peter Rice ( † 1992) and Pierre -Louis Carlier.

Equipment

The St. Mary's Basilica of Lille, the spatial effect of a high gothic cathedral. Several altars and sculptures, especially in the older eastern part of the building and in the chapels show the forms of historicism. In deliberate contrast to the liturgical elements of the altar in the crossing of the island in the 2000s were created in strong red and gold fully on Old Testament motifs. The many large stained glass windows from the 19th and 20th centuries by flooding the room with light. Occupies a special position, the round window of the west facade of Ladislas Kijno. It combines salvation history with world history and astrophysical symbolism.

Organ

The cathedral has a large Danion -Gonzalez organ with 7,600 pipes in 102 stops on four manuals and pedal. It was built in 1966 for Radio France and installed by the company Klais in the cathedral of Lille 2007/ 08. The small choir organ is a work by the famous organ builder Aristide Cavaillé -Coll of 1869.

• Couplers: II / I, III / I, IV / II, III / II, IV / II, IV / III (also known as sub-and Superoktavkoppeln ), I / P, II / P III / P IV / P ( as Superoktavkoppel )