Albi – Cathedral of Saint Cecilia

From the archives: this post is a republication (with some dusting up) from an old blog. It was originally published back in 2012.

For our first outing of 2011 as winter was coming to an end, we decided to go to Albi.

Surprisingly – as my hometown is not too far and I also lived in Toulouse which is even closer – it was only my second time in Albi. It also was the first time I visited the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia, better known in English as the Albi Cathedral.

 

 

The cathedral was built between 1282 and 1380 and is the largest cathedral made of bricks in the world.

Here are a few numbers to give you an idea:

• height of the spire: 78 m.
• height of the walls: 40 m.
• height of the vaults: 30 m.
• total length: 113.5 m (100 m indoors).
• total width: 35 m (30 m indoors).

 

It was built as an indirect consequence of the Albigensian Crusade as a symbol of Christianity’s renewal in the area, along with the adjacent Bishop’s Palace called the Berbie Palace. They have been named as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2010.

 

 

Having been built towards the end of the Middle Ages, it is quite influenced by the early Italian Renaissance, especially the interior, as you’ll see in a future post.

During the French Revolution it was almost destroyed like many other symbols of the Ancien Régime but it was saved at the last minute after a local architect, Jean-François Mariès, pleaded to the Ministry of Interior. To protect it further, the cathedral was included in the list of Historical Monuments a few decades later, and renovations – including some additions – were also made in the 19th Century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An amazing and unique building.

So if you’re ever in the South-West of France, don’t be like me and don’t wait 38 years to visit Albi’s Cathedral…

(to be continued with the interior, sooner or later)

 

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