Saint-Étienne Cathedral

Coordinates: 45°26′27.7″N 4°23′4.4″E / 45.441028°N 4.384556°E / 45.441028; 4.384556
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other cathedrals with the name, see Saint Étienne (disambiguation) § Cathedrals.
Saint-Étienne Cathedral
Cathédrale Saint-Charles-de-Borromé de Saint-Étienne
Neo-Gothic
Groundbreaking1912
Completed1923
Specifications
Length80 metres (260 ft)
Width30 metres (98 ft)
Materialsconcrete
Official name: Cathédrale Saint-Charles-de-Borromé
Reference no.IA42000147 [1]
Website
catholique-saint-etienne.cef.fr

Saint-Étienne Cathedral (

Saint Charles Borromeo, in Saint-Étienne, Loire, France
.

It has been the

Diocese of Saint-Étienne
since its creation on 26 December 1970.

The building was constructed as an elaborate

neo-Gothic style, on a Latin cross
groundplan with transept and triple nave, and a belltower on the west front. The building is 80 metres (260 ft) long, 30 metres (98 ft) wide and 17 metres (56 ft) from the centre of the roof vault to the ground. The organ in the choir dates from 1930, and there is another very imposing one by A. Durand from 1968. The building was a highly ambitious one from the start, and remains unfinished.

History

The project of a large church for a new parish was decided upon in 1830 to serve the rising population of the city consequent upon its industrial growth. The dedication to Charles Borromeo was an indirect compliment to the then monarch, Charles X.[2]

A provisional chapel was built in the Rue Émile Combes in 1829, although only dedicated in 1840, as a temporary measure while the new large church was constructed. In the event the provisional structure had to serve until 1923. The extreme delay was due to sustained obstruction from the secularist authorities, which had disastrous consequences for the progress of the new church of Saint-Étienne. Plans for an impressive church were accepted in the 1860s, drawn up by

Archdiocese of Lyon, where his most significant work was the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. After many years in storage they were destroyed in a fire, and had to be reconstructed by Adrien Rey [fr], from preliminary drawings by Bossan's partner, Giniez, which had been kept by his children. The local architect who finally built the church from them was Francisque Dodat. The first stone was blessed on 3 November 1912, by Monsignor Déchelette, Auxiliary Bishop of Lyons.[2]

However, two years later, the start of

Archbishop of Lyons, was significantly less than what had been planned: it is missing three of the intended four belltowers and a dome, as well as quantities of external and internal decorations.[2]

In 1970, the church was elevated to a cathedral when the

Diocese of Saint-Étienne was created. On this occasion, the choir was remodelled to conform to the liturgical prescriptions of the Second Vatican Council
. In 2005, at the instigation of the Abbé Martin, rector, the layout was completed by the creation of an episcopal cathedral coherent with the altar and the ambo, on drawings by the architect Michel Goyet.

Built after the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, it is one of the few cathedrals in France owned by the diocese, which is wholly responsible for its upkeep.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Inventaire Général du Patrimoine Culturel". Base de donnée Mérimée (in French). Ministère de la Culture. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Forez-info.com: Histoire de la Cathédrale Saint-Charles (in French)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cathédrale Saint-Charles-Borromée de Saint-Étienne.
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