Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Lisieux

Lisieux

Lisieux was the capital of the Gallo-Roman Lexovii and its bishopric is attested as early as 538, but the cathedral to be seen today is first and foremost the work of one man: Arnoul, bishop from 1141 to 1181, close to the kings of France and England, who, according to the tourist office, received Thomas Becket when he passed through Lisieux to take refuge in France. The Romanesque cathedral, mentioned in 1055, had burnt down in 1136; Arnoul launched its rebuilding around 1150, 1160 or 1170, according to the sources, and brought from the Île-de-France a new way of building: for the first time in Normandy, flying buttresses propped the vaults. The nave was finished shortly before 1183, the rest of the church in the first quarter of the 13th century, with a Norman Gothic chevet, and the facade around 1250. Lisieux is thus held to be the first Gothic cathedral in Normandy. Two centuries later came a bishop whom history has not forgiven. Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, had conducted in 1431 the trial that condemned Joan of Arc; appointed to Lisieux in 1432, he held the see until 1442 and had the Lady Chapel rebuilt, at the eastern end of the church, in a refined Flamboyant Gothic, to receive his tomb. His body still lies beneath the paving. It has often been said, wrongly, that Henry Plantagenet married Eleanor of Aquitaine here in 1152: the wedding was celebrated in Poitiers. The south tower, which had collapsed, was rebuilt from 1579. The cathedral lost its bishop at the Concordat of 1801, when the diocese was united with that of Bayeux.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Lisieux ↗

Getting there : Place François-Mitterrand, 14100 Lisieux, in the town centre. Opening times and free entry to be checked with the Lisieux tourist office. The Lady Chapel, where Pierre Cauchon lies, is the axial chapel, at the chevet.

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

Ambient sound