CathedralSarthe
Cathédrale Saint-Julien du Mans
Le Mans
Dimensions
Romanesque nave 24 m high, Gothic choir 34 m high
Period
Romanesque facade around 1110, choir completed in 1254
What stands there
Ascension window, one of the oldest stained-glass windows still in situ in the world
Dedicated to Saint Julian, Le Mans's legendary first bishop said to have been sent on mission by Saint Peter himself, this cathedral pairs a powerful Romanesque nave with one of the largest Gothic choirs in France, completed in 1254 with thirteen radiating chapels. It preserves the Ascension window, made around 1120: one of the oldest stained-glass windows in the world still in place in its original opening. Geoffrey Plantagenet, father of Henry II of England and founder of the Plantagenet dynasty, was buried here in the baptismal chapel.
Getting there : Free admission
Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.
Ambient sound
Nearby
- Église abbatiale de l'Abbaye royale de l'ÉpauCistercian abbey · Yvré-l'Évêque (Le Mans) · 3.3 km
- Abbaye Royale de l'ÉpauCistercian abbey · Yvré-l'Évêque · 4.7 km
- Château de BonnétableLegendary castle · Bonnétable · 25 km
- If millénaire de JauzéVenerable tree · Jauzé · 27 km
- Forêt de Bercé — Futaie des ClosLegendary forest · Jupilles · 27 km
- Basilique Notre-Dame-du-ChêneChurch · Vion · 34 km
This place in the great stories
- Eleanor and the Plantagenets: an empire from Bordeaux to Scotland (1137-1204)Marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII at Bordeaux on 25 July 1137; annulment at…
- The cathedral builders: from Saint-Denis to Beauvais1140 – 1284
In the same department
All places — Sarthe (11).