Cathédrale Saint-Spire et les reliques de l'évêque enfui

Corbeil-Essonnes

The story of Saint-Spire begins with a theft of relics. In the 10th century Haymon, count of Corbeil and son of a Norman dignitary, seized the relics of Saint Exuperius — first bishop of Bayeux, whose name was worn down over the centuries into Supère, Supire, then Spire — kept near Ballancourt, and around 946 founded a collegiate church to house them in his town. In the 11th century the relics of Saint Loup (Lupus), third bishop of Bayeux, joined them: Corbeil thus became the guardian of the founding saints of a Norman diocese. The building weathered its trials — fires in 1019 and again around 1137–1144, a cloister fortified from 1070 — before the solemn consecration of the present church on 10 October 1437. For centuries, on the fifth Sunday after Easter, a solemn procession wound through the streets of the town: the confraternity brothers of Saint-Spire carried the shrine barefoot and fasting, dressed in white albs. In 1619 Louis XIII presented a rich silver-gilt reliquary. The Revolution burnt the relics in 1793–1794, but rescued fragments were reinstalled in 1803 and the cult resumed. In 1966 the former collegiate church of the counts of Corbeil became the cathedral of the new diocese of Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes: a thousand years after Haymon, the stolen bishop had ended by making Corbeil an episcopal city.

Getting there : Place Saint-Spire, old centre of Corbeil-Essonnes. RER D, Corbeil-Essonnes station then 10 minutes on foot. Open for services and for heritage visits.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound