Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor de Nîmes

Nîmes

In 1096, Pope Urban II consecrated the Romanesque cathedral in Nîmes, in the presence, according to the tourist office, of Count Raymond IV. The site had long been occupied: excavations have identified, to the west of the façade, the remains of a 7th-century church and numerous sarcophagi, and the reused ancient blocks and columns long led people to believe, wrongly it seems, that the church had taken the place of a Roman monument. Of the building consecrated by the Pope there survive a section of façade punctuated by Lombard arcading and, beneath the great triangular pediment “in the antique manner”, a sculpted frieze: its first seven panels, from the 12th century, unfold Genesis from the temptation of Adam and Eve by the serpent to the murder of Abel by Cain. The rest did not survive the Wars of Religion. The Reformed badly damaged the cathedral in 1567, then in 1621, and pulled down the Tour du Trésor, the southern bell tower of the façade, which bore comparison with the Tour Fenestrelle in Uzès; only the north tower, which served as a lookout post, was spared. In the 17th century, Bishop Cohon had the building raised again as a single rib-vaulted vessel, extended behind the choir by the Baroque Rosary Chapel; the Protestants themselves, Wikipedia notes, contributed to the funding of the nave. Around 1646, eleven new panels were carved to complete the frieze, from Noah bringing the animals into the ark to Moses receiving the tablets of the Law. Finally, in 1822, the small Romanesque portal was demolished to open a neoclassical doorway wide enough to let through the canopy of the Duchess of Angoulême.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor de Nîmes ↗

Getting there : Place aux Herbes, 30000 Nîmes. Open every day, all year round, free access, according to the Nîmes tourist office and Tourisme Gard (exact opening times to be checked). Look up at the frieze beneath the pediment of the façade: the first seven panels, to the north, are Romanesque.

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

Ambient sound