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Origin and history

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Cambrai came into being in the 11th century, when Bishop Liébert of Cambrai, returning from an aborted pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1054, decided to recreate the holy places in his city. On Mont-des-Bœufs, he built a Benedictine monastery with a circular church inspired by the Holy Sepulcher, consecrated in 1064. This first building, rebuilt after a fire in 1145, was gradually transformed in the 13th and 15th centuries, before being rebuilt in Baroque-classical style at the end of the 17th century under the impetus of Abbé Louis de Marbaix and architect Anselme Estienne.

The church, spared during the Revolution despite the destruction of the former cathedral of Cambrai, became cathedral in 1804 after the concordat. It suffered a devastating fire in 1859, requiring a restoration led by Henri de Baralle, which added a 65-metre bell tower completed in 1876. Damaged during World War I, it was preserved by local will. Today, it houses a symphonic organ of 3,700 pipes and the funeral monument of Fénelon, carved by David d'Angers in 1826.

Ranked a historic monument in 1906, the cathedral has undergone major restoration campaigns, notably between 2000 and 2007 for roofs, and since 2022 for its interior and stained-glass walls. Its architecture, marked by French influence after the annexation of Cambrésis in 1678, reflects a mixture of baroque and classicism typical of the reign of Louis XIV. The site also preserves remains of the Abbey of the Holy Sepulchre, as a 11th century sandstone pillar integrated into the present church.

The history of the cathedral is also that of the political and religious upheavals of the region. Transformed into a temple of Reason during Terror, sold as a national good, then saved in extremis from demolition in 1800, it embodies the resilience of the Cambreian heritage. Its present role, both a place of worship, a minor basilica since 1896 and a historical symbol, makes it a must-see monument of the Hauts-de-France.

Among his treasures, the Schyven-Convers organ (1897/1936), a neo-classical aesthetic, and the chapels added in the 19th century, such as that of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, bear witness to his architectural evolution. The cathedral remains a living testimony of the links between religious power, art and local history, from medieval pilgrimages to contemporary restorations.

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