Introduction

The Cathedral of Saint Cecilia of Albi (French: Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d’Albi), also known as Albi Cathedral, is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Albi. First built in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, the grim exterior resembles a fortress, but the interior is lavishly decorated with art and sculpture, a very ornate choir screen, and walls in bright blues and golds, in the Toulousian or Southern French Gothic style. It was begun in 1282 and was under construction for 200 years. It is claimed to be the largest brick building in the world. In 2010 the cathedral, along with its episcopal buildings, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unique architecture and the remarkable consistency in its design.

Albi Cathedral

The first recorded church and bishop’s residence was built at the end of the 4th century, and is believed to have burned in about 666. A second is mentioned in 920, named for Saint Cecilia, a wealthy Roman noblewoman and martyr, who was also a patroness of musicians. That church was part of a complex of episcopal buildings, including a baptistry and sanctuary dedicated to Saint Peter. A third church, in the Romanesque style, was built of stone at the end of the 12th century and was located between the present cathedral and bishop’s palace. It incorporated some stonework of the earlier buildings, and included a cloister on the south side. Some of the arches of the cloister are found today in the municipal park of Rochegude in Albi.

In the 12th century, Albi was part of the Province of Languedoc, ruled by the Count of Toulouse, who was appointed by the King of France. The region became a battleground between the established church and the followers of a dissident religious movement called Catharism. The Cathars had a strong presence in Albi around 1165 AD.  In 1208, Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade, named for Albi, to destroy the Cathars in southern France It ended in 1209 with the defeat and massacre of the Cathars at Carcassonne, and the end of the semi-independence of the states of Languedoc. In 1229 Albi came under the joint rule of the Lord of Castres and of King Louis VIII of France.

The cathedral’s most important decorative addition was the rood screen (jubé), a highly ornamental fence built between 1474 and 1483 that separated the choir from the nave. It featured intricate flamboyant flame motifs and sculptures depicting the life of Saint Cecilia. By the end of the 15th century, the cathedral also saw the completion of the 78-meter tower in 1492, as well as the addition of a large mural of the Last Judgement on the west facade. In the early 16th century, a flamboyant-style baldaquin was added to the southern entrance. Under Bishop Charles Le Goux de la Berchère in the 16th century, the cathedral underwent a classical redesign, including a new chapel and altar visible from the nave, which led to the destruction of part of the Last Judgement mural. In the 18th century, Bishop Armand Pierre de la Croix de Castries continued the classical transformation, installing a new organ and bringing Italian sculptors to redecorate the east-end chapel. However, the French Revolution in 1789 brought significant damage to the cathedral. Many treasures were looted, and the rood screen was almost destroyed in 1792 to make space for services. The destruction was halted thanks to intervention from an engineer, although many statues on the screen were later destroyed. By the early 19th century, the missing statues were replaced with figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and Saint John from another church.

19th to the 21st Century

The first major restoration of the cathedral occurred between 1849 and 1876, led by architect César Daly, who reported that the exterior of Saint-Cécile was unfinished, with incomplete buttresses and walls. Daly added a balustrade atop the walls, reinforced the roof, and placed thirty small towers, each 6.10 meters tall, on the buttresses. He also redesigned the baldaquin at the entrance with flamboyant ribs. However, the additions, which were not part of the original Gothic design, were unpopular with the residents of Albi, who demanded a return to the original roofline. In 1876, Daly resigned, and after several proposals, architect Alphonse Potdevin took over in 1900. Potdevin removed the balustrade, lowered the small towers, and restored the cathedral to a design closer to its original appearance. The baldaquin was reconstructed, and significant conservation work was carried out on the interior, paintings, and decorations, with ongoing restoration efforts continuing.

Architecture of the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia of Albi, France

Albi Cathedral

Architectural Style: southern French Gothic architecture

Bernard de Castanet (1240–1317), who became Bishop of Albi in 1276, was the key figure behind the construction of the Gothic cathedral. He was a judge and lawyer, had been an officer of the Inquisition for Languedoc, and later became a cardinal. He raised funds for the new building by setting aside one-twentieth of the revenue of the chapter, and offering spiritual incentives to parishioners who donated a tenth of their income. He also made imaginative use of the relics of Saint Cecilia, possessed by the church, in his fundraising. He economised by using brick rather than stone to construct the new cathedral, which was easier work. While building the cathedral, he also began construction of a new bishop’s palace and other supporting buildings.

One result of the battle against the Cathars was the fortress-like appearance of the Cathedral of Albi. It was intended to illustrate the power of the bishop, his unity with the king, and his fierce resistance against heresy and religious enemies.

The cathedral was constructed beginning with an apse at the east end and building west through the choir, between 1282 and 1300. Bernard de Castanet died in 1317. The nave walls were built, topped by channels to carry off rain water, between about 1310 and 1340, followed by then the base of the bell tower built between 1355 and 1366, and the construction of the vaults over the nave. Work on the nave was completed at about 1330.

A new bishop, Dominique de Florence (in office 1397–1410), completed the monumental portal on the west side. There was a long lull before construction resumed again under another bishop, Louis d’Amboise (1474–1505), a counsellor of Louis XI of France and Charles VIII of France. The cathedral was finally consecrated on 23 April 1480. A cross placed on the west wall on that date commemorates that event.

Exterior

Albi Cathedral

The cathedral is built in the Southern French Gothic style, also sometimes called the Toulouse style; the Convent of the Jacobins in Toulouse (1260–1292) follows a similar plan. As suitable building stone was scarce locally, it was built almost entirely of brick, which also was easier to work and gave the builders greater flexibility. It has a single vessel, without a transept, and without lower collateral aisles. This gives it the widest Gothic nave in France, 18 metres (59 ft), compared with 14.65 metres (48.1 ft) at Reims Cathedral and 14 metres (46 ft) at Notre-Dame de Paris.

Instead of using flying buttresses to support the upper walls, as in northern France, the thick walls of Toulouse are supported by semicircular buttresses integrated into the walls, rising up to the roof and coming inside to form the separations between the chapels. The principal entry is on the south side through an elaborate porch entered by a fortified stairway, rather than through the west front, as is traditional in French Gothic architecture.

Interior

The nave, where the congregation worships, and the choir, reserved for the clergy, together are 97 metres (318 ft) long, 30 metres (98 ft) high, and 19 metres (62 ft) wide. While the brick outside of the church is austere and solemn, the interior is almost exploding with color; the vaults, tribunes and walls of the chapels are entirely covered with painting and decoration, most of it painted during the Renaissance.

Bell Tower

Albi Cathedral

The Bell Tower is 78 metres (256 ft) tall, and is composed of two distinct sections and styles. The lower portion was built between 1355 and 1366. It is composed of stacked square sections of which the exterior surfaces feature rounded arches and bands of decoration connecting cylindrical corners. The upper level, completed in 1492, has three octagonal sections, growing smaller as they rise in height, surrounded by balustrades. The top section has two delicate flying arches on the west side and two slender supporting towers on the east side.

Portals

Albi Cathedral

Unlike most Gothic cathedrals, where the principal entrance is on the west front, at Albi the main entrances are on the south and southeast sides and date later than much of the cathedral. The South Portal previously passed through a separate chapel, built in 1521 next to the cathedral, which was destroyed in the 19th century. It now is preceded by a very ornate baldaquin, whose vault is covered with intricate interlocking ribs of the flamboyant style. Between the baldaquin and the interior is an extraordinary forest of lacelike, twisting spires, crochets, and other ornament. The pioneer architectural preservationist Prosper Mérimée described the intent of the decoration as “admirable”, but remarked that the finished baldaquin was “entirely absurd”, since it was open to the sky, and offered no protection at all from the wind, rain or sun. It uniquely incorporates a statue of St Sigolena the Deaconess, who is the patroness saint of the city.

Because the cathedral is built on the side of a hill sloping down to the river, the entrance on the southeast side of the chevet is located 30 feet (9.1 meters) below the level of the nave and choir, and those entering must go up an outside stairway. The Portal of Dominique de Florence, named for the bishop who commissioned it, and also known as the Portal of Saint Cecilia, was built at the beginning of the 15th century between the chevet and one of the towers of the city wall. It gives access to the stairway which leads upward to the entrance into the apse of church. The portal has a lacelike open tympanum containing statuary and is crowned by quadrilobe bearing the coat of arms of the bishop who commissioned it.

The Rood Screen

Albi Cathedral

The choir is the portion of the interior at the east end reserved for the members of the clergy. It has some of the most elaborate decoration, combining sculpture, painting, ironwork, and wood carving. Every portion of the choir, from the choir stalls and floors to the walls, tribunes and vaults above, is elaborately decorated and painted or colored.

The rood screen, or jubé, is a decorative fence that separates the choir from the nave and is located about midway in the cathedral. Its function was originally to allow the clergy to pray and meditate in a quiet atmosphere, undisturbed by people circulating in the nave or other parts of the church. They were very common in French Gothic cathedrals until the 16th century, when most were removed as part of widespread reform of church doctrine begun by the Council of Trent (1545–1563), intended to combat the rise of Protestantism, and make the interior of churches more open and welcoming. The Albi screen was kept, but then was threatened with destruction during the French Revolution as an example of “fanaticism and superstition”. Many of the statues on the outer face were smashed, but the interior of the screen survived intact.

The rood screen is made of filigree stone work topped with a group of polychrome wooden statues representing Christ on the cross, the Virgin Mary and Saint John. These statues were not original to the cathedral; they probably came from the former Church of the Cordeliers and were installed in the 19th century.

Choir Enclosure and Choir Stalls

While much of the sculpture on the outer face of the rood screen was damaged, that on the interior of the screen is almost completely intact, and features sculpture of the twelve apostles and two angels around the Virgin Mary. They are carved of stone and delicately colored. Seventy-two statues of angels decorate other parts of the screen, surrounding the figure of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of the cathedral.

The elaborate sculptural screen, partly openwork and partly closed, surrounds the interior space of the choir. This enclosure was built between 1474 and 1482 by Bishop Louis I d’Amboise. His coat of arms of two angels carrying his emblem is displayed at the side entrances of the screen. A study in 2012 discovered that the sculpture was originally painted in blues and reds, but was modified in the 19th century to brighter greens and orange-reds, to harmonise with the more recent painted decoration. Following that discovery, with the permission of the Commission of National Monuments, the sculpture was cleaned and restored as much as possible to the original gilding and colouring, and the 19th-century background colours changed to the colour of stone, to recreate the original medieval harmony.

Wall Painting

One of the distinctive features of Albi Cathedral is the polychrome geometric painting of the tribunes and upper walls, particularly in the choir and the chapels. The geometric designs have a number of different motifs; some imitate the appearance of marble; some are divided into medallions or squares, or give the appearance of three-dimensional cubes; some have coats of arms, or painted tree branches, or false balustrades. The upper levels offer painted animals or birds inhabiting the geometric designs, in an elaborate combination of humor and fantasy.

Pulpit

Albi Cathedral

The Baroque pulpit in the nave was commissioned by the Cardinal Bernis, and was made between 1776 and 1779 by the Italian sculptors Mazetti and Maderni.

Chapels

Albi Cathedral

The cathedral features twelve small chapels along the sides of the nave, twelve more alongside the choir, five chapels radiating from the apse at the east end, and the Chapelle Sainte-Claire at the west end. In the 15th century, the nave chapels were enhanced with overhead galleries. Over the years, the chapels were frequently redecorated, which led to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s complaint in 1841 about the damage done, including paintings covering murals and clumsy whitewashing restorations. He undertook significant restorations, especially in the Chapelle de la Sainte-Croix, where nine murals depict the discovery of fragments of the True Cross and their role in Emperor Constantine’s victory. The Chapelle Saint-Clair, added at the base of the tower in the late 17th century, was placed directly behind the fresco of the Last Judgement, with Bishop Le Goux de la Berchère destroying part of the fresco to create space for the chapel and altar. The Chapel of Notre Dame and Saint Cecile, located at the east end, was decorated between 1777 and 1779 by the Italian artist Jacques Antoine Mazetti and features a marble statue of the Virgin Mary, surrounded by four paintings of scenes from her life by François Fauré, with a “Gloire” halo .

Paintings – The Last Judgement Fresco

The oldest painting is the mural of the Last Judgement, on the interior of the western front, which was painted at the end of the 15th century. It covers an area of 15 by 18 metres (49 by 59 ft). Some portions of the mural were removed in 1693 due to the creation the Chapel of Saint Clair at the base of the tower. Some of the central figures, such as Christ rendering judgement and Archangel Michael weighing the sins of those being judged, were removed to make a doorway into a chapel.

Stained Glass

Albi Cathedral

Only a small amount of medieval stained glass remains in the widows of the cathedral; most of the windows date to the 19th and first part of the 20th century. The Chapel of the Holy Cross has two windows from the 15th century, representing Saint Helen carrying a large cross, and King Louis IX holding a cross-reliquary. Some pieces of earlier glass, including the coat of arms of Bishop Beraud de Fargues, dated between 1320 and 1330, are incorporated into more modern windows.

The Organ

The main organ of the cathedral is located on the upper level the nave at the west end, above the mural of the Last Judgement. It was commissioned in 1734 by Bishop de la Croix de Castries from the craftsman Christophe Moucherel. It replaced the first organ, dating to the end of the 15th century, and a second smaller organ which had been attached to the rood screen. The 1734 organ reused some of the pipes of the first organ. The decoration atop the pipes of the organs includes, at the top, statues of angels with wings spread and with trumpets, heralding Saint Cecile and Saint Valerien. Below these are two white unicorns with the coats of arms of the Bishop, and below these five towers of pipes crowned with statues of angel-musicians. The cornice of the organ rests on the shoulders of two sculpted Atlantes.

The organ itself was rebuilt and restored several times in the 18th and 19th century; it was radically rebuilt in 1903 into a more romantic style, while preserving the older pipes above. Between 1977 and 1981 it was rebuilt again, restoring its original classical appearance.

Treasury

The treasury of the cathedral is a rare example of a cathedral treasury located in its original place. It is a vaulted chamber attached to the disambulatory of the nave on the north side of the cathedral, above the vestiere and adjoining the sacristy, which was constructed in the late 13th century, and was used to keep the church archives and precious objects. It has a series of niches, closed with iron grills. It was remade into a museum in 2001. It originally contained the cathedral’s most precious relic, a fragment of the true cross, which disappeared in 1792 during the French Revolution, at the same time that the cathedral main altar and silver retable were destroyed. The objects displayed now are largely those that were preserved in the tombs of the bishops, as well as more recent objects made in the early 19th century. It also contains a collection of paintings, including a polyptyque of scenes from the life of Virgin and Child from the 16th century, with a gilded background, and paintings of the life of Saint Cecelia, the patron saint of the cathedral.

Feast Day

Feast day: 22 November

The Cathedral of Saint Cecilia in Albi, France, is dedicated to Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. Her feast day is celebrated on November 22 each year.

Church Mass Timing

Sunday          : 10:30 AM and 6 PM

Monday        : 6:30 PM

Tuesday         : 6:30 PM

Wednesday   : 6:30 PM

Thursday        : 6:30 PM

Friday              : 6:30 PM

Saturday         : 9 AM

Church Opening Time:

Monday       :  10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Tuesday       :  10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Wednesday :  10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Thursday      :  10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Friday           :  10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Saturday      : 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Sunday         :  1:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Contact Info

Address :

5 Bd General Sibille, 81000 Albi, France

Phone : +33563384740

Accommodations

Booking.com

Connectivities

Airway

Toulouse-Blagnac Airport to the Cathedral of Saint “Cecilia” of Albi, France distance between 1 hr 10 min (81.8 km) via A68.

Railway

Albi Ville station to the Church of the Cathedral of Saint “Cecilia” of Albi, France distance between 3 min (950.0 m) via Bd Roger Salengro.

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