Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Coutances

Coutances

A first Romanesque cathedral was built at Coutances under Bishop Geoffroy de Montbray (1049–1093) and consecrated in 1056 in the presence of Duke William, the future William the Conqueror, the building being partly financed by the generosity of Norman lords enriched by the conquest of southern Italy and England. From 1208, under Bishop Hugues de Morville, the Romanesque building was almost entirely rebuilt in the Gothic style, from the western towers to the choir completed around 1235; the whole adopts the vocabulary of Norman Gothic, with its remarkable octagonal lantern tower raised above the crossing of the transept. In 1356, the sack of the town by the troops of Geoffroy d'Harcourt severely damaged the monument; Bishop Sylvestre de la Cervelle then had several chapels rebuilt between 1371 and 1386. The Huguenots plundered the building in 1562 during the Wars of Religion. The Norman poet Louis Beuve nicknamed it the "cathedral of pride"; a local tradition holds that its spires can be seen, on a clear day, from the Channel Island of Jersey, more than 40 kilometres away.

Getting there : Place du Parvis, 50200 Coutances, in the town centre; free entry, tower climb possible in season.

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

Ambient sound