Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saint-Omer

Saint-Omer

In the 7th century Audomar, a monk appointed Bishop of Thérouanne by King Dagobert, received in 649 the estate of Sithiu from a converted lord. Around 659 he had a chapel dedicated to the Virgin built there, on the site, tradition says, of a temple of Minerva, and entrusted it to Bertin. In 820 the chapel became a collegiate church of thirty canons; rebuilt in stone, in the Romanesque style, after the fire of 1033, then in Gothic after that of 1191, the church would not be completed until the 16th century: nave finished in 1473, vaults in 1506, west tower in 1521. The saint has his cenotaph there, carved in the 13th century, which kept his relics for centuries. In 1558 the canons commissioned from the clockmaker Pierre Enguerran an astrolabe clock, to show that their collegiate church was a learned centre of high rank; it is said to be unique in Europe, and it drifts, it is claimed, by only thirty seconds a week. For Saint-Omer had just inherited a new role. In 1553, after a terrible siege, Charles V had Thérouanne, the old episcopal city, razed. Its canons obtained from the Emperor the sparing of the sculpted group that dominated, some twenty metres up, the south portal of their cathedral: Christ between the Virgin and Saint John, the Grand Dieu of Thérouanne. It was taken to the collegiate church of Saint-Omer, where it still is. The vanished diocese was divided up: Saint-Omer received its own in 1559, and Notre-Dame became a cathedral in 1561. It would remain one for more than two centuries, until the Revolution closed it to worship and the Concordat suppressed the diocese.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saint-Omer ↗

Getting there : In the centre of Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais), near place Sithieu; the station is about ten minutes' walk from the centre. According to a travel guide: free entry, open from 8 am to 5 pm from November to March and from 8 am to 6 pm from April to October, guided tours on Sundays in July and August, audio guides at the tourist office (all to be checked).

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

Ambient sound