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Origin and history

Saint Vincent de Mâcon Cathedral, known as Old Saint Vincent, is the former medieval cathedral of the city, dedicated to Vincent de Zaragoza. Its origin dates back at least to the sixth century, with traces of a first building under Bishop Placid. In the 11th century, a Romanesque cathedral was built, from which today the western massif and the lower parts of the two octagonal towers remain. The latter, of unequal heights, were increased in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, while the Romanesque tympanum (around 1130), one of the oldest in Europe, illustrates a Last Judgment in five registers, marked by iconographic innovations such as the double representation of Christ.

The monument had a turbulent history: looting by Hungarians (937) and Lothaire (834), repeated fires (742, 960), and an unfinished Gothic reconstruction in the 13th century. The French Revolution sealed its decline: declared national in 1789, it was partially demolished in 1799, retaining only the narthex and the bell towers. In the 19th century, restorations allowed its opening to worship until the First World War. Today, the site, classified as a Historic Monument in 1862, benefits from a 5.9 million euro (2023) safeguard project under the Heritage Lotto.

The tympanum, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, reveals clunisian influences and a stylistic relationship with the sculptures of Avenas, attributed to the Master of Avenas by historian Edson Armi. The façade, decorated with Lombardic bands, and the narthex, a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles, bear witness to successive architectural changes. The Wars of Religion (1567) damaged the high sculptures, while the restorations of the 17th and 19th centuries added elements such as the flamboyant Gothic gate (late 15th) or the glass windows.

In the 18th century, Abbé Shorte Sword described the building as "close and dark, but with excavated vaults", highlighting the harmony of his carillon, renowned among the most beautiful of the kingdom. Recent excavations and studies (1970s) have highlighted the remains of the cloister, moved in the 19th century before disappearing. Finally, the wall paintings of the towers, classified in 1862, and the novel capitals of the narthex recall the original decorative richness, now partially preserved.

The cathedral embodies local historical conflicts, such as the opposition between Mâcon and Cluny in the 12th century, reflected in the tympanum commanded by Bishop Bérard de Châtillon. A symbol of episcopal power, it was also an issue during religious unrest: it was sacked by the Protestants in 1567 and lost its liturgical objects and suffered iconoclastic martelations. Its decline in the 18th century, linked to structural problems, contrasts with its past role as a spiritual and political centre, as evidenced by the Te Deum of 1791 or its use as Temple of Reason under the Terror.

Today, Old Saint Vincent is visited as a major vestige of Burgundy Romanesque architecture, alongside the abbatiales of Cluny and Tournus. Its tympanum, studied for its pioneering representation of the God of Judgment, and its towers with superimposed styles (Roman, Gothic) make it a unique testimony of the artistic and religious evolutions of the Middle Ages in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

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