History of the monument

The largest Gothic church in France!

On the site of the previous cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in 1218, the architect Robert de Luzarches proposed an ambitious project, the first stone of which was laid two years later by Bishop Évrard de Fouilloy. The building's proportions were gigantic: 145 metres long and 42.30 metres high. The interior space is estimated at 200,000 cubic metres, more than double that of Notre Dame de Paris!

Begun at the crossing of the transept in 1220, the structural work was completed less than fifty years later, in 1269, and the framework was laid between 1284 and 1305.

Alterations and restoration

The interior of the church was marked by ^18th-century alterations: in order to comply with the requirements of the Council of Trent , the rood screen was replaced with wrought-iron railings, and the high altar in the choir was replaced with a Baroque ensemble.

However, the most notable changes were made in the ^16th century. The large rose on the west façade was replaced by a flamboyant design, and stalls and choir screens were installed: with over four thousand figures, the stalls are one of the few sculpted ensembles of this type still visible in France.

The ^19th century was marked by a vast restoration project, made necessary by the deterioration caused by the passage of time and the mutilations suffered by the statuary during the Revolution. Several teams worked on the project throughout the ^19th century, including the best-known, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who was in charge of the restoration project from 1849 to 1874.