Saint-Brieuc Cathedral

Saint-Brieuc Cathedral Basilica (French: Basilique-Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Saint-Brieuc) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, France. It is a national monument.

The Cathėdrale St-Étienne on the Place du Gėnėral de Gaulle in Saint-Brieuc has the look of a fortress, and did, in fact, fulfil the role of a church-fortress ("cathédrale-forteresse") on many occasions when the town was laid siege to in earlier times. The central porch is flanked by two sturdy towers: the 14th-century Tour Brieuc. which is 92 feet high and the 15th-century Tour Marie, which is 108 feet in height. These towers have loop-holes and machicolations which would have allowed the use of a variety of defensive weapons and are supported by stout buttresses. The two arms of the transept jut far out and are protected by towers with pepper-pot roofs. Although stripped of many of its treasures by the zealots of the French Revolution, it still holds many splendid artefacts and works of art. The Chapelle de l'Annonciation has, for example, a superb baroque altarpiece and the organ was built by Cavaillé-Coll, famous for having built the organ in the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. The south arm of the transept is lit by 15th-century stained-glass windows and the tomb of Saint-Guillaume is amongst the many tombs and enfeu scattered throughout the building. The cathedral has an 18th-century pulpit and some interesting Stations of the Cross carved in 1958 by Georges Saupique

Brieuc was born in the 5th or 6th-century in Wales and at an early age was entrusted to the care of Saint Germain. He stayed in Germain's monastery until he reached the age of twenty-four when he was made a priest. He decided to travel to the Armorican peninsula and set off with a group of monks, his mission to convert the local people to Christianity. He founded a monastery at what is now Tréguier but when called back to Wales because of a terrible plague there, he left his nephew Tugdual in charge. When he returned he found Tugdual totally in control and set off along the Léguer estuary, landed where Saint-Brieuc stands today and founded a monastery after firstly setting up a modest oratory. Later he had the first cathedral built and took the role of bishop for himself.

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