Thérouanne, la cité rasée et sa cathédrale disparue

Thérouanne

Thérouanne was the capital of the Morini, that people of the coast whom the Romans called the last of men, then the seat of a bishopric founded in the 7th century, of which Saint Omer was the most famous holder. The town commanded the valley of the Lys and the passage between the sea and the Artois: it is the town that Sigeric's notebook, in 990, records in the form Teranburh, two days' march from the shore. Its cathedral of Notre-Dame, built in the 12th and 13th centuries, was one of the great Gothic churches of the North, with a sculpted portal whose scale can still be measured. Hemmed in between the lands of the king of France and those of the emperor, the stronghold was besieged twice in the 16th century. In June 1553 the troops of Charles V prevailed, and the emperor ordered that the town be "razed and demolished down to the foundations": the cathedral was pulled down, the stones dispersed, and the diocese suppressed. A village has re-formed alongside, but the city itself has never been raised again. What remains lies in the ground: foundations uncovered by archaeology since the end of the 19th century, carved blocks collected, and the great Christ of the south portal, saved and carried to Saint-Omer.

Wikipédia — Thérouanne ↗

Getting there : By the D 341 from Saint-Omer or the D 157 from Aire-sur-la-Lys. The market town can be crossed on foot; the municipal museum presents the finds from the excavations and a model of the vanished city (reduced opening hours, enquire at the town hall). The excavated areas are under grass and remain visible from the paths; the great sculpted portal of the cathedral, known as the Grand Dieu de Thérouanne, can be seen today in the cathedral of Notre-Dame at Saint-Omer.

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

Ambient sound