Sainte-Marie d’Auch Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Auch in the Gers department (Occitania, France).
A vast building with three naves, 102 meters long and 35 m wide, it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Auch. It has been a minor basilica since 1928.
Begun in July 1489, at the instigation of Francis of Savoy, on the ruins of the Romanesque cathedral of Saint-Austinde, it was consecrated on February 12, 1548, but two centuries were necessary to complete its construction.
It is a flamboyant, Gothic style, strongly influenced by the Renaissance. It was completed at the end of the 17th century by a façade and a Corinthian porch. It includes a set of 21 chapels.
It is especially remarkable for a series of 18 windows, works by Arnaud de Moles and the woodwork of the choir, including the 113 stalls by unknown authors, which continue the sequence of biblical scenes begun on the windows.
Auch Cathedral has been classified as a historic monument since 1906. It has also been listed, since 1998, as a UNESCO world heritage site on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela.
Windows
The stained-glass windows, by Arnaud de Moles, were made between 1507 and 1513 (the last stained-glass window, that of the Resurrection, indicates in its cartel the installation date of June 25, 1513, with the signature of the master glassmaker). Although still steeped in the art of the Middle Ages, they are part of the Renaissance and are considered the most beautiful of this period.
The glass roofs are present in all the chapels of the ambulatory (with the exception of the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher, then attached to the archbishopric). After three historic stained-glass windows, placed at the beginning, in the center and at the end of the route, representing respectively Creation and Sin, the Cross of Christ, and the Resurrection, the others present biblical characters: patriarchs, prophets, apostles .
The series begins on the Gospel side – the right side of the church looking west, with the original fall, and ends on the Epistle side with the Resurrection, passing by the stained-glass window located in the axis, the Crucifixion of Christ.
Address: 5 Rue Arnaud de Moles, 32000 Auch, France
Height: 44 m
Architectural styles: Gothic architecture, Renaissance architecture
Architect: Pierre Levesville
Opened: 1680
Working hours:
Wednesday 9:30 AM–12:30 PM, 2–6 PM
Thursday 9:30 AM–12:30 PM, 2–6 PM
Friday 9:30 AM–12:30 PM, 2–6 PM
Saturday 9:30 AM–12:30 PM, 2–6 PM
Sunday 2–6 PM
Monday 9:30 AM–12:30 PM, 2–6 PM
Tuesday 9:30 AM–12:30 PM, 2–6 PM
How to get to?
From Paris: 8 hr 37 min (787 km) via A10
From Toulouse: 1 hr 17 min (81.7 km) via N124
From Andorra: 3 hr 45 min (226 km) via D919
From Barcelona: 5 hr 10 min (475 km) via AP-7 and A61
From Madrid: 7 hr 54 min (653 km) via A-2
From Monaco: 6 hr 39 min (662 km) via A8
From Moscow: 37 hr (3,487 km) via E30/M1
From Belgrade: 19 hr 42 min (1,966 km) via E70
From Istanbul: 30 hr (2,915 km) via E70
From Bern: 9 hr 6 min (920 km) via A9
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