Rennes Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Rennes) 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 let ...

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 * Chri ...

located in the town of

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departme ...

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 has been a

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...

since 1906. 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 denominations ...

, dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

, is the seat of the Archbishop of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo, previously Bishop of Rennes. Bretagne Ille Rennes2 tango7174

Building history

The site has been used for a cathedral more or less from the beginnings of the see in the 6th century. The earliest building was completely replaced by a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral in the 12th century, of which in 1490 the tower and the entire west front collapsed. The existing façade with its neoclassical

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

towers in four stages was constructed over the next two centuries or so, with long gaps between the different stages: the lowest level was built between 1541 and 1543, the second from 1640 to 1654 (by

Tugal Caris Tugal Caris (active 1630 – 1666),Marie-Dominique Menant"Tinténiac, Ensemble 1 du maître-autel" ''Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel: Bretagne'', 2006, archived frothe originalon 14 December 2014 . also spelled Carris or Cariste, was a ...

), and the fourth (by Pierre Corbineau) from 1654 to 1678. Yet another architect, François Hoguet, completed the towers, between 1679 and 1704, at their present height of 48 metres and added the device of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

between them. The nave and choir however had not been restored. During

vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , mea ...

on 11 February 1754 a great stone fell from the roof of the choir, and it was decided, before the entire body of the cathedral collapsed, to demolish all these parts and rebuild them. The demolition was carried out between 1756 and 1768, leaving only the towers and west front standing. Rebuilding began in 1787, shortly after which the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

began and all work was suspended. It did not recommence until 1816, initially under the supervision of the architect

Mathurin Crucy Mathurin Crucy (2 February 1749, Nantes - 7 November 1826, Chantenay, near Nantes) was a French architect and urban planner, who conceived a major Neo-Classical architectural programme for Nantes. Life The son of a lumber contractor, Crucy t ...

. He died in 1826; the work was continued under the local architect Louis Richelot, and finished in 1845. The original decoration was in a plain

neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing st ...

, but during the 19th century it was extensively refurbished with gilt, stucco and paintings (inspired by those in the Parliament of Rennes) to create a more sumptuous appearance. Characteristic of this cathedral is the contrast between the rich decoration, including, in front of the altar, slabs of rare marble from the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum ( plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancie ...

, a gift from

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

, and the sombre granite of the structure.

Pro-cathedral

Between 1803 and 1844, because the cathedral was unusable, the abbey church of Our Lady in Saint Melaine of Rennes (french: Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melainethe spellings "Melaine" and "Mélaine" are both very frequent ''de Rennes'') served as a

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

(i.e. a substitute). This church is dedicated to Saint Melaine, traditionally the first Bishop of Rennes, buried here in the 6th century. The present buildings were constructed in the 17th century, and were badly damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Notes

References

External links

Rennes, Location of the cathedralChorus of the Cathedral
{{Authority control Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Buildings and structures in Rennes Churches in Ille-et-Vilaine Neoclassical church buildings in France