PROJET 16 | Mémoire des Pierres

Notre-Dame de l'Assomption Cathedral

from Rodez

The Notre-Dame de Rodez cathedral, built between the 13th and 16th centuries, is a Catholic cathedral located in Rodez in the Aveyron department . It is the cathedral of the diocese of Rodez et Vabres .

Although the construction work lasted from 1277 until the end of the 16th century, the cathedral enjoys remarkable unity both inside and out. Indeed, the general party of the building was fixed from the beginning. This type of plan is attributed to the architect Jean Deschamps , who put into practice in the South the principles of Gothic architecture defined in northern France. The plan and the elevation of the building make it possible to establish similarities between the cathedral of Rodez and those of Clermont-Ferrand

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rodez

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From 1440, a site of considerable magnitude made Notre-Dame de Rodez one of the richest French cathedrals in achievements of the late Gothic and Renaissance. The existence of a solid written documentation contributes to the exemplary nature of the building for the knowledge of the functioning of the great religious sites of this period. The sources of funding, the identity of the sponsors, the role of project management are all points which are clarified here by the archives. The archaeological congress of France held in Aveyron in 2009 and published in 2011 was an opportunity to renew knowledge about the cathedral, as well as to publish recent discoveries

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After an interruption due to the conflicts of the Hundred Years' War, work on the cathedral resumed in 1445 and continued under the episcopates of Guillaume de la Tour (1429-1457), Bertrand de Chalençon (1457-1501) and François d'Estaing (1504-1529).
The episcopal palace and the city wall must be destroyed to make room for the new nave from 1474. The western end of the cathedral, built outside the city wall, then takes on a massive appearance and is provided with openings. reduced.
The south facade of the transept, for which an important order had been placed with the Lyon sculptor and architect Jacques Morel in 1448, is in itself “an exceptional monument. The contrasts between the materials, limestone and sandstone, the rigidity of the frame and the undulating tracery mark this set which takes on the appearance of a vast altarpiece. It will exert a lasting influence on the flamboyant Rouergate architecture, noticeable, for example, at the church of Saint-Jean d'Espalion.

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The upper parts of the choir were completed between the years 1440 and 1470; at the same time, construction began on the envelope of the nave, which rests on the recently completed transept, and several of its chapels. Between 1470 and 1490, the upper parts of the two eastern spans of the nave were built and the foundations of the four western spans, which took the place of the old episcopal palace, the city wall and ditches, were built.