Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Notre-Dame de Laon Cathedral, located in the Aisne department in the Hauts-de-France region, is one of the first major Gothic buildings in France. Started in 1155 under the episcopate of Gautier de Mortagne, its construction ran until 1235, marking a transition between primitive Gothic and classical Gothic. It was built at the site of a Romanesque cathedral set on fire in 1112, replacing Carolingian buildings (consecrated in 800 in the presence of Charlemagne) and Merovingian. Its Latin cross plan, its five towers (including the famous tower-lantern), and its flat bedside, inspired by English models, make it a unique monument.

The construction was organized in five major campaigns: the choir and the transept (1155-1170), the last five spans of the nave and the transept gates (1170-1185), the completion of the nave and the western facade (ca. 1200), and the extension of the choir (1205-1220). The towers, including that dedicated to Thomas Becket (passed to Laon in 1163), were crowned with arrows, only one of which was demolished in 1793. The stained glass windows, partially destroyed in 1870 by an explosion, and the sculptures of the portals (Last Judgment, Nativity, Coronation of the Virgin) testify to a rich iconographic program, mixing eschatology and humanism.

In the 14th century, 27 chapels were added between the foothills, and the south façade of the transept was remodeled. The cathedral suffered damage during earthquakes (1692), the Revolution (destructing sculptures and the southern arrow), and the First World War, although spared by the fighting. Restored in the 19th century by Émile Boeswillwald, it houses a remarkable liturgical treasure, including an icon of the Holy Face offered by Pope Urban IV (former archdeacon of Laon), and organs whose buffet dates back to 1698. Its cloister, classified in 1889, and its oxen carved in life-size on the towers remain architectural puzzles.

The cathedral, built in Lutetian limestone from local quarries (including those of Chermizy, 15 km away), illustrates medieval ingenuity: its sexpartite vaults (24 m high), its blind triforium, and its rosacea (like the liberal arts, 1180) make it a model for the cathedrals of Bamberg, Magdebourg or Chartres. A symbol of episcopal power, it was also a place of pilgrimage, welcoming the relics of Saint Beat as early as 1164. Today, it still dominates the Picardy plain, witness to almost nine centuries of religious and architectural history.

External links