Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral
| Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Clermont-Ferrand Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-Ferrand |
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Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral from Montjuzet Park in April 2006.
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| Basic information | |
| Location |
Clermont-Ferrand, France 
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| Geographic coordinates | 45°46′43″N 3°05′09″E / 45.778727°N 3.085766°ECoordinates: 45°46′43″N 3°05′09″E / 45.778727°N 3.085766°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic Church |
| Province | Archdiocese of Clermont |
| Region | Auvergne |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral |
| Status | Active |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-Ferrand) is a Gothic cathedral, and French national monument, located in the town of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne. It is the seat of the Archbishops of Clermont (bishops until 2002).
It is built entirely in black lava stone, which makes it highly distinctive, and visible from a great distance. Its twin spires are 108 metres tall, and tower above the town's rooftops.
In the 5th century, bishop Namatius laid the foundations of the city's first cathedral, allowing the Christian community to leave its ghetto, the "vicus christianorum". He dedicated the building to Saints Vitalis and Agricola, whose relics he brought from Bologna. It was 43 metres long and on a basilica plan, as is known by the account of Gregory of Tours. It was ornamented in marble, with a nave, two parallel aisles, a transept and 70 columns. It was destroyed in 760 by Pepin the Short who, repenting of this act, gave a large sum to bishop Haddebert to finance his reconstruction work, which lasted from 764 to 768. This second structure was again destroyed, this time by the Normans, in 915.
Bishop Stephen II built a third Roman cathedral, which was consecrated in 946. Unsurpassed, this building probably served as the model and prototype for many churches in the Auvergne. The present crypt (made up of an ambulatory and radiating chapels) dates back to this 10th century church, and included a 4th-century white marble sarcophagus.
In 1248, inspired by a visit on Sainte-Chapelle on a trip to Paris, bishop Hugues de la Tour decided to launch work on a new cathedral. Constructing a church in the prestigious Northern Gothic style would thus allow him to assert his supremacy over a city that had been put back into its bishop's power (rather than that of the counts of Auvergne) just some decades earlier. Notre-Dame-du-Port, that had inspired the cathedral of Stephen II, would thus again be surpassed.
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