Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux et la tapisserie

Bayeux

Odo of Conteville, son of Herleva and therefore half-brother of William, received the bishopric of Bayeux around 1049, barely out of adolescence; he fought at Hastings, governed Kent and ended up his brother's prisoner. In the meantime, he had rebuilt his cathedral, and on 14 July 1077 the archbishop of Rouen dedicated it in the presence of Odo, of the duke-king William and of Queen Matilda. Of that building there remain the crypt, with three aisles on squat columns, and the base of the two façade towers; the rest burnt in 1105, when Henry Beauclerc besieged the town, and the great arcades of the nave, Romanesque too but later than the fire, carry a sculpted decoration of interlace and figures that has no equivalent in Normandy. The Gothic choir rose in the 1220s, the nave received its upper parts around 1250, the central tower its lantern in the 15th century. It was in this nave that each year, for a few days, the embroidered "tente" was hung, of which the treasury inventory of 1476 is the first mention: sixty-eight metres of cloth on which Harold swears his oath "at Bayeux", the fleet crosses the Channel and the English king dies. Odo is its probable patron, English workshops its makers. It left the church in the 19th century for the library, and then for its museum.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux ↗

Getting there : In the town centre, a ten- to fifteen-minute walk from the station; paid parking in the neighbouring streets. The cathedral is open every day, outside services, and entry is free; the 11th-century crypt can be visited from the choir. The tapestry is no longer there: it is kept at the Musée de la Tapisserie, in the former grand seminary, rue de Nesmond, closed for works until autumn 2027; it is on show at the British Museum in London from September 2026 to July 2027. Allow an hour for the cathedral and the streets around it.

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

Ambient sound