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Origin and history

The Cathedral of Saint-Sacerdos de Sarlat, located in the Dordogne, finds its origins in a Benedictine abbey founded in the 9th century, probably under the impulse of Pépin I of Aquitaine. Spared by Viking raids because of its distance from the river tracks, it was placed under the protection of Charles le Gros in 886, then briefly linked to Cluny in the 10th century. The relics of Saint Sacerdos de Limoges, translatable between 945 and 962, made the abbey a major place of pilgrimage, while its independence was consolidated under the direct protection of the Holy See in 1153.

The current building is the result of several construction campaigns. The Romanesque bell tower and lantern of the dead remain in the medieval abbey, while the Gothic choir was rebuilt between 1504 and 1519 under Bishop Armand of Gontaud-Biron. The nave, demolished in the 16th century, was only completed in 1682 thanks to the intervention of François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, uncle of the archbishop of Cambrai. The Gothic vaults, facade and bulb arrow (after 1721) date from this Baroque period, illustrating a late stylistic persistence.

After becoming a cathedral in 1317 when the diocese of Sarlat was founded — abolished in 1801 — the ancient abbey was secularized in 1561, reducing its chapter to 18 canons. His organ, the work of Jean-François L的Épine (1752), and his buffet, classified as historical monuments, bear witness to his liturgical influence. The Wars of Religion had destroyed the relics of Saint Sacerdos, but the building, protected as early as 1840, remained a symbol of the perigurdine religious heritage, mixing Roman, Gothic and classical heritage.

The architecture of the cathedral reflects these historical strata: the 12th century square bell tower, decorated with Corinthian capitals, contrasts with the 17th century Gothic vaults and the Baroque facade. The translation of the relics of Saint Pardoux in the 11th century, then their flight by a monk to the Limousin, reveals the tensions between monastic and seigneurial powers. Saint Bernard would have performed a miracle there in 1147, strengthening his spiritual aura.

Ranked among the six major abbeys of the Périgord with Paunat or Terrasson, Sarlat was the only one to escape Norman looting. His charter, although partially lost, retained royal and pontifical charters, such as that of Eugene III (1153) confirming his possessions. The secularization of the chapter in the 16th century, costly and misled by wars, plunged the cathedral into precariousness until the 17th century, where its restoration was finally completed.

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