Cathédrale Saint-Front
ChurchHidden Treasure
Cathédrale Saint-Front, located in Périgueux (Dordogne), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Périgueux, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 45.1836, 0.7228
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082725
Crowned by five Byzantine domes and a 60-metre bell tower, the cathédrale Saint-Front de Périgueux is one of the most oriental and striking skylines in France.
History
In the heart of the old town of Périgueux, Saint-Front cathedral stands out as an outstanding monument, its silhouette bristling with domes and lanterns more reminiscent of Venice or Constantinople than the Périgord region. Dedicated to the evangeliser of the region, Saint Front, it brings together in a single building more than fifteen centuries of Christian history, from the Merovingian crypt to the major restoration campaigns of the 19th century. Its inclusion on the list of France's first listed historic monuments, as early as 1840, bears witness to the early national recognition of this masterpiece of Romanesque domed art. What makes Saint-Front truly unique is its Greek cross plan - exceptional in French Romanesque architecture - and its five large domes on pendentives, which structure the interior space with supreme grandeur. Naturally, one thinks of Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice, built on a similar principle, but Saint Front has its own majesty, more austere, almost mineral, bathed in subdued light that glides in from the high windows of the tambours. The courtyard that runs halfway around the building, crossing the massive pillars, offers a fascinating interior walkway and unusual views of the forest of columns. The tour also has some more intimate surprises in store: a 14th-century fresco nestling in an apsidal chapel in the south transept, miniature chapels housed in the corner pillars and topped with their own lantern domes, and early 15th-century mural paintings, removed from a demolished house in the Thoin district and transposed here like a treasure saved from the ravages of time. The superimposed crypts, excavating the subsoil beneath the choir and the apsidioles, invite visitors to descend into the oldest layers of the site. The bell tower, a veritable beacon of ochre sandstone standing 60 metres above the town, can be seen from the banks of the Isle and from the neighbouring hills. Its silhouette - three decreasing cubic storeys crowned by a cylinder of 42 columns and a conical dome with scales - is one of the most recognisable in the South-West. Photographers and watercolourists return again and again in search of a different light, never disappointed by the variety of angles offered by the Place de la Clautre and the surrounding medieval streets.
Architecture
Saint-Front adopts a Greek cross plan with five square bays - an extremely rare layout in Western Romanesque architecture, reminiscent of St Mark's Basilica in Venice and, more distantly, of the great centred-plan churches of the Byzantine East. Each of the five bays is covered by a large dome on pendentives, resting on twelve square pillars linked by cruciform passages. Six corner pillars in the transept and choir are hollowed out into apsidal chapels, each topped by a small lantern dome, multiplying the effects of zenithal light. A corridor runs halfway up under the large arches of the four arms of the cross, seeping through the pillars to form a continuous high ambulatory. The bell tower, rising to a height of 60 metres at the north-western end, is one of the most sophisticated Romanesque belfries in the southern Aquitaine region. Its composition - three progressively recessed cubic storeys topped by a circular fourth storey formed of 42 columns, crowned by a conical dome clad in stone scales - elegantly combines mass and lightness. The materials used, mainly local limestone and sandstone in warm golden to ochre tones, give the building its warm tone so characteristic of Périgord architecture. Inside, the sober, almost bare walls enhance the geometric purity of the volumes and let the light filter through the drums of the cupolas.
Related Figures
Saint Front — évangélisateur légendaire du Périgord, dont le tombeau a constitué l'origine et la raison d'être du sanctuairePaul Abadie — architecte chargé de la grande restauration de 1852-1890, futur concepteur du Sacré-Cœur de MontmartreEugène Viollet-le-Duc — théoricien du patrimoine qui porta un regard critique sur les interventions d'Abadie à Saint-FrontProsper Mérimée — premier inspecteur général des Monuments historiques, qui contribua au classement de Saint-Front dès 1840Évêque François de La Fayette — prélat sous lequel Saint-Front fut officiellement promue au rang de cathédrale en 1669
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Cathédrale Saint-Front located?
Cathédrale Saint-Front is located in Périgueux, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Cathédrale Saint-Front built?
Cathédrale Saint-Front dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Cathédrale Saint-Front open to visitors?
Cathédrale Saint-Front is currently closed to visitors.