Angoulême is a town in southwestern France, prefecture of the
Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its
inhabitants are called Angoumoisins.
Established on a spur
dominating a bend of the Charente and its confluences with the
Touvre and Anguienne, the city is nicknamed the balcony of the
South-West. The municipality has less than 50,000 inhabitants
(41,970 in 2013), but it is the center of an agglomeration bringing
together nearly 110,000 inhabitants (107,652 in 2012, 60th among the
largest agglomerations in France) within an urban conurbation that
stretches over fifteen kilometers from east to west. Angoulême is
also part of an urban community called Grand Angoulême with more
than 140,000 inhabitants in 2017.
Former capital of Angoumois under the Ancien Régime, Angoulême
has long been a coveted stronghold, due to its position as a
crossroads of important communication routes, and has suffered many
sieges. From its tumultuous past, the city, perched on its rocky
outcrop and recognized as a city of art and history, has inherited a
remarkable historical, religious and urban heritage which attracts
many visitors and tourists passing through.
Today, Angoulême
occupies the center of an agglomeration that remains among the most
industrialized between Loire and Garonne (paper industry established
in the sixteenth century, foundry and electromechanics developed in
a more recent period). It is also a commercial and administrative
city, with a university center, and a remarkably vibrant cultural
life. This is dominated by the famous International Comic Strip
Festival, which largely contributes to the city's international
reputation, as well as by the Francophone Film Festival.
Catholic worship
Saint-Pierre Cathedral, Place Saint-Pierre;
Saint-Pierre d'Angoulême Cathedral is a Romanesque-style
cathedral located in Angoulême, in the Charente department. It is
the subject of a classification as historical monuments by the list
of 1840.
Its location, near the city walls and an ancient
city gate, would correspond to that of a primitive sanctuary, prior
to Christendom, probably a temple dedicated to Jupiter. A first
cathedral was built during the 4th century, dedicated to Saint
Saturnin. The building disappeared when Angoulême was taken by
Clovis in 508, when the latter drove out the Visigoths, after the
victory of Vouillé in 507. Clovis then King Charibert ordered the
reconstruction of the cathedral in honor of Saint Pierre.
This second cathedral was consecrated in 566 by Bishop Saint Germain
of Paris and Bishop Saint Euphrône of Tours and is mentioned in the
Histoire des Francs of Grégoire de Tours. It was set on fire,
probably by the Normans.
The third was the work of Grimoard
de Mussidan, Bishop of Angoulême (991-1018). He was also abbot of
Brantôme en Périgord, and used the revenues of the abbey to finance
the construction of the cathedral. It was started around 991 and
consecrated in 1015. It only lasted a century, its dimensions being
too small. Only the north wall remains in the second and third bays
of the nave, under the windows.
The Angoumois, at the
beginning of the 12th century, was one of the richest counties of
the Duchy of Aquitaine, due to the fertility of its soil and active
trade. The city of Engolesme (Angoulême) could therefore acquire a
vast cathedral. Its achievement is due to the impetus of Girard II,
Bishop of Angoulême (1101-1136) 4. Successively professor, bishop
and legate of four popes, friend of the Dukes of Aquitaine, adviser
to the Counts of Angoulême, he also proved to be a leading artist.
He directed the work of his cathedral under the supervision of Canon
Itier Archambaud, who died in 1125. These began around 1110 and the
church was consecrated in 1128.
The work began with the nave,
then continued, around 1118, with the lower and middle parts of the
western facade. This date coincides with that of the death of Canon
Raymond Guérard, who supervised the work of the Saint-Sernin
basilica in Toulouse. This death may have enabled Girard to bring
certain Toulouse sculptors to Angoulême, who probably executed the
reliefs on the lower part of the facade. This date also corresponds
to the resumption of Zaragoza in the reconquest of Spain against the
Saracens, certain acts of war of which are illustrated on the frieze
under the tympanum south of the central door.
In 1125 the
facade rises from a 5th floor. A lantern at the crossing of the
transept and the covering of the domes of the nave by a single
frame. This leads to the elevation of the facade to hide the upper
parts of the nave. In 1128, a dedication took place in the
cathedral, indicating that a large part of the work on the bedside
and perhaps the nave had been carried out. In 1136, Bishop Girard
died, leaving the upper part of the facade unfinished.
Towards the end of the 13th century the apse and the transept were
enriched with six chapels / apsidioles. Because the cathedral was a
burial place of the Counts of Angoulême Jean d'Orléans (1400 †
1467), the “Good Count Jean d'Angoulême” rests at the angle between
the steps of the choir and those of the south transept.
Between 1562 and 1568 the cathedral suffered from the Wars of
Religion. It was gunned down in 1568 by the Protestant army led by
Admiral de Coligny and the southern bell tower destroyed.
During the period (1625-1634) the cathedral was restored and two
watchtowers were added at the top of the eastern facade. We see them
in the photograph taken in 1851 during the Heliographic Mission
(photo Gustave Le Gray and Auguste Mestral). You can also see the
pinnacles, the central capital, the porch with the rest of the
sculptures on each side and its double colonnade.
In 1784 a
stone tribune was built to place an organ.
The cathedral was
transformed into a temple of Reason during the Revolution.
Major restorations carried out from 1852 to 1879, by the architect
Paul Abadie, under the aegis of Antoine-Charles Cousseau, bishop of
Angoulême, significantly modified the interior and exterior of the
building.
Architecture
The cathedral was built in a small elongated device and a medium
cut stone device with Turonian limestone from the plateau on which
the medieval town is built.
The building consists of a single
nave with three square spans, 20 m wide, topped with cupolas on
pendants. The nave is followed by a transept, with very short arms.
On each arm of the transept opens a semi-circular apse. Each arm is
extended by a span under a rectangular bell tower, on which was
built a bell tower.
A deep choir, finished in a semicircle,
around which are articulated four radiating apsidioles.
Inside the nave, the first bay is a 19th century reconstruction.
The crossing of the transept is covered by an octagonal dome.
Originally there was a floor animated by blind arcades under the
drum of the dome. In the seventeenth century, windows were pierced
in the center of each series of arcades. In the 19th century, Abadie
had this floor destroyed in order to rebuild it by raising it and
creating two bays on each side of the octagon, then rebuilding the
dome. This considerably increases the lighting of this part of the
cathedral.
The arms of the transept are lit to the east by an
oculus (remade by Abadie) and covered in a cradle.
The
south-eastern arm is extended by a rectangular room, fitted out in
the 17th century, inside the base of the destroyed bell tower. To
the north, the base of the bell tower is original. On this base
rests an octagonal transitional floor, animated by double roller
arches and directly covered with a dome.
A side portal has
been added against the second bay of the nave, to the north and to
the south.
From the apse with radiating chapels, only the
apse and the south apsidiole are original.
Western facade
The facade is divided into four superimposed registers, populated
with veneered arches, organized around a raised central arcade wider
than the others. The facade is crowned by a triangular gable flanked
by two pinnacles, all three added during the restoration by Abadie.
From September 2019, it is subject to general restoration work. Two
iconographic themes are developed: Ascension and Judgment Day.
On the highest floor, Christ in Glory appears in a mandorla,
surrounded by the four figures of the apocalypse symbolizing the
four gospels, the tetramorph. The third floor is divided into two
bays. In the upper bay, above the arch of the central window, are
two tall angels and four smaller angels. They address the apostles
to show them the heavenly vision. All their eyes, and those of the
elect, scattered under great arches, turn to the Savior in an
attitude of trust. To the north and south of the central tympanum
are two arches, each containing two statues. In the lower bay, to
the south, three apostles and to the north, two apostles and a
woman. At each end of the bay are two reprobates, who writhed in
pain and fell prey to Satan.
On the second floor, six
apostles, three on each side, are located in arches. On the ground
floor, the tympanum of the large portal represents Christ blessing
with one hand and presenting the Gospels with the other. On each
side, two arcades each contain three apostles.
Above, runs
along a band populated with hunting and war scenes. These sculptures
were made around 1118-1119, a date that corresponds to the recapture
of Zaragoza in the reconquest of Spain from the Saracens.
Undoubtedly under the impetus of Bishop Girard, this victory is
illustrated by two scenes from the Chanson de Roland which also
recount Roland's victory in Zaragoza.
The left side of the
frieze illustrates Bishop Turpin's equestrian combat, with his chain
mail and miter, against the giant Abisme, which he pierces with his
lance.
In the center: a gonfanon, then on the right, Roland,
nephew of Charlemagne, pursues Marsile, king of Zaragoza, slices his
sword off the arm of the adversary whose horse has already turned
bridle. Then, on the next scene, Marsilie falls in front of the open
gate of Zaragoza.
The reliefs of horsemen
The two reliefs
date from the 19th century restoration. They are absent in the
photographs of 1851 and 1856. It seems that there were other reliefs
of horsemen at this place, but they disappeared during a
modification of the facade in 1808.
To the south, a representation of the charity of Saint Martin,
who, being a legionary, shares his mantle with a beggar, offering
him the lining;
To the north, a relief depicting Saint George
killing the dragon and saving the daughter of the king of Silenus,
as recounted in The Golden Legend.
The style of the reliefs of
the Roman tympanums is new in Angoumois and comes from Languedoc.
They are the work of sculptors who worked on the Porte des Comtes in
the Saint-Sernin basilica in Toulouse, recognizable by the use of
comma folds. He inspired the sculptures of the Saint-Pierre church
in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente, the Saint-Léger church in Cognac, among
others.
The plants with fatty leaves of the capitals, also
new, are inspired by the Poitou tradition of sculpture, for example
at the Saint-Hilaire church in Melle or at the Notre-Dame church in
Surgères.
Restoration work on the western facade
The
Cathedral of Saint-Pierre in Angoulême is owned by the State -
Ministry of Culture. The Regional Direction of Cultural Affairs of
New Aquitaine (DRAC) is responsible for maintenance and restoration
work on this monument. The western facade is the subject of
restoration work in 2019 and 2020, under the supervision of Denis
Dodeman - Chief Architect of Historic Monuments. The Regional
Conservation of Historical Monuments - Poitiers site (CRMH) and the
Departmental Unit of Architecture and Heritage of Charente (UDAP 16)
ensure the scientific and technical control (CST) of this
restoration. The financing of this project is 100% assured by the
State - Ministry of Culture.
This operation is launched in a
single intervention phase and comprises 8 lots for a total amount
of: € 1,030,000 including tax. The realization of the panels and the
site tarpaulins was designed by Olivier Thomas, author and
cartoonist, to allow mediation around the site on the palisades.
A conference cycle is planned throughout the progress of the
project by the Country of Art and History of Grand'Angoulême and the
CRMH - Poitiers site.
To go into more detail in the
restoration of the facade
The restoration takes into account the
western facade but also the side faces, the rear of the western
massif, the roof and associated roof, the interior spaces of the
organ gallery. A scaffolding 40 m high by more than 19 m wide and 8
m deep was put in place. Protective tarpaulins will be placed and
illustrated. A protection tunnel will allow an entry through the
western portal to be preserved while ensuring the safety of the site
and the public. The roofing will be revised to be identical (hollow
tile) with replacement of the batten and repair of the waterproofing
structures as new. The gutters and downspouts are also revised. The
current anti-bird screens will be removed because they are in very
poor condition, and replaced by water-repellent anti-bird copper
screens for the five oculi.
The bell stone roofing will be
cleaned, treated and repointed. The screens in place in the bays of
the pinnacles will be checked. Biocidal treatment of mosses and
lichens which have developed on the protruding parts: capitals,
entablatures, friezes of blind arches, shafts of back-to-back
columns as well as on hollow parts. Vegetation eradication will also
be carried out. The cleaning of the facings on the old parts and the
sculpted parts, will be done by neutral exfoliant of the latex type
or clay compress.
The cleaning of the upper parts will be
done by micro-exfoliation at low pressure dry or by cryogenics.
Siding areas contaminated with sodium chloride will be desalted and
soluble anions will have to be extracted. Tests will be carried out
by applying compresses and poultices. Depending on the results, this
intervention process will be systematized on the exterior and
interior facings. Checks after each intervention will be carried
out. A disintegration of the epidermis has been observed on the
original parts particularly exposed to bad weather. The preliminary
study reveals the characterization of more than twelve different
mortars of different ages and different constitution. Leveling
mortars were put in place during restorations in the 1970s.
These additional moldings, made to allow a better reading of the
facade, are now yellowed and dissolve under the action of rain and
environmental pollution. The removal of exogenous metallic elements
will be carried out, as well as the treatment by stone consolidating
research with ethyl silicate on the old facings. Removal of stones
from plain facings or fractured or peeling moldings and identical
replacement on recent facings and in research on old facings. The
basement stones altered since they are directly subjected to
capillary rise will be replaced by new stones identical to those
already restored twice in the 19th century. The sculptures will be
cleaned, and will receive a pre-consolidating treatment as well as a
specific consolidation.
For the most altered, they will be
deposited and stored in the departmental archaeological deposit. New
stones from Sireuil will be cut and sculpted, representing the
apostles and the characters identically. The Saint George sword
blade will be replaced. The axial stained glass will be removed and
restored as well as the north stained glass. The roof of the western
massif will be cleaned, the vegetation eradicated, and will receive
a biocide treatment. The cement joints will be purged and redone
with lime. The handrail will be re-sealed.
The bell tower and
the bells
The northern bell tower, 59 m high, consists of six
floors. The bell tower, except for the first floor, is a complete
19th century reconstruction.
The first floor is lit on each side
by a semicircular bay with smooth piers;
The second floor is
decorated with four blind arcades which conceal the level of the
dome;
On the third, two twin and bilobed berries animate each
side;
The fourth floor, set back from the others, is pierced by
three double arched bays;
The fifth is pierced with three
semicircular bays, receiving a veneer of three bilobed bays;
The
sixth is flanked by a short column in each corner; four bays animate
each of its faces.
Before the restoration, a cut-off spire,
covered with slate, crowned the bell tower. The arrow is clearly
visible in the photograph above, taken in 1851, before the
restoration of Abadie.
This tower houses a ringing of 5 bells
provided by the foundry GUILLAUME, foundry father and son in Angers,
in 1863.
Sunday October 23, 1863, Monsignor Antoine-Charles
Cousseau, Bishop of Angoulême, baptized these 5 bells:
Pierre and
Paul (drone): The 2 - 4,120 kilos
Marie: Re 3 - 1,600 kilos
Caroline: Mi 3 - 1,150 kilos
Marguerite: Fa # 3 - 810 kilos
Henriette: Sol 3 - 622 kilos
The Door of Mercy
Like many
other religious sites around the world, Saint-Pierre d'Angoulême
Cathedral has a Mercy Gate, a door which, alongside the holy doors
open every 25 years or according to the exceptions set by the Pope
of Rome during the course of the Holy Years or Jubilees, was
established at Saint-Pierre d'Angoulême Cathedral following the
desire of Pope Francis to see the current Jubilee of Mercy spread
all over the world. In short, this door, like all the other doors of
Mercy, assists the Holy Doors in their roles in the present Jubilee
of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis which runs from December 8, 2015
to November 20, 2016.
The Treasure by Jean-Michel Othoniel
The project to enhance the treasury of Angoulême cathedral was
initiated in 2008. Then in 2010, the State entrusted the scenography
to the sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel, as part of an artistic public
commission, supported by sponsorship from Engie.
The Treasury
occupies the Gothic Saint-Thibaud chapel, located along the eastern
wall of the south transept of the cathedral, as well as two rooms on
the first floor of this chapel.
The route therefore takes
place in "3 stations", where the artist has completely transformed
the space, where you can discover, in particular, nearly 150
restored objects of sacred art.
The first room on the ground
floor is dedicated to the Lapidary, recovered by Abadie during the
first restoration of the cathedral in the 19th century.
The
second room upstairs is dedicated to the Commitment and is dedicated
to the figure of the priest and the rituals that accompany him in
his faith (with furniture adorned with black Murano blown glass
beads, inspired by prayer beads).
The third room upstairs (known as Le Merveilleux) is an explosion
of gold and color with a number of stained glass windows with a blue
background, produced by the Loire workshops (Chartres). The walls
are adorned with a gold and blue patterned tapestry (handmade by the
Offard workshop in Tours). Symbolically, the lines of the floor,
walls and stained glass converge in the center of the cross of the
large stained glass window. Finally, in front of the latter is
affixed a reliquary, created by the artist, intended to house a
relic of Saint Pierre Aumaître, a Charente priest who died in 1866
as a martyr in Korea and canonized in 1984.
This inauguration is,
however, part of a larger project (initiated in 2007 by the Regional
Directorate of Cultural Affairs / Regional Conservation of Historic
Monuments), aimed at restoring the neo-Romanesque state of the
cathedral, which was significantly altered in the 19th century.
The restoration of Angoulême Cathedral and the staging of its
treasury, thus testify to the consistency that the State deploys in
the promotion of its heritage throughout the national territory.
As part of this project, a film was produced18 and a book
published.
The treasure can be visited. However, the number
of visitors is limited to 25 people and they can only be done by
appointment at the Pays d'Angoulême Tourist Office.
Saint-André Church, rue Taillefer;
Notre-Dame d'Obézine
Church, rue de Montmoreau;
Saint-Ausone Church;
Saint-Jacques
de l'Houmeau church, rue André Lamaud;
Saint-Martial Church,
Place Saint-Martial;
Sainte-Bernadette Church, rue Marguerite
d'Angoulême;
Saint-Pierre Aumaître church, rue Pierre-Aumaître;
Saint-Cybard Church, Place Mulac;
Church of the Sacred Heart, rue
Archambault.
Saint-Paul Church, boulevard Jean Moulin;
Protestant worship
Temple of Angoulême, rue de Bélat;
Protestant parish center Pasteur, rue de Périgueux;
Evangelical
Church, rue Fontchaudière;
Free Evangelical Church, rue de la
Corderie;
Seventh-day Adventist Church, Impasse Parmentier.
Mormon worship
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has a place of worship on rue du Père-Marquette
Muslim
worship
Mosque. 55, rue de la Charité.
Angoulême stands on the site of the ancient Inculisma in
Aquitaine. Since 379, this colony was the seat of the bishop, and
was later renamed Ecolisma or Encolisma. Clovis took it away from
the Visigoths in 507 and founded a cathedral in it. Already at that
time it was a fairly significant city, and in the following
centuries Angoulême played an important role in military history. In
the 9th century, the city was plundered by the Normans.
The
area in which Angoulême lies was formerly called Angumua and in the
old days, from the 9th century, it was a county. The male knee of
the Counts of Angumua was cut short in 1218 with the death of Emar
Tilfer; the county, through the female heiress, Isabella (second
wife of John Lackland), passed to the house of Lusignan.
In
1302, when Hugh XIII Lusignan died without heirs in the male tribe,
Philip the Fair annexed this county to his possessions, and since
then it has been an inheritance with a county title for members of
the royal house (except for the period 1360-1373, when the city
belonged to the British) ... Since 1394 Angoulême is the inheritance
of the Dukes of Orleans, the younger branch of the dynasty. So, the
youngest son of Louis of Orleans, Jean, was a Count of Angoulême,
and his grandson ascended the throne under the name of Francis I.
The latter in 1515 renamed this county a duchy and gave it to his
mother, Louise of Savoy. By this time, the "duchy", firmly held by
the king, remained so only nominally.
The title of Duke of
Angoulême was held by the third son of Francis I, Charles (died in
1545), who, as Charles V's son-in-law, had to conclude peace between
France and Spain. Charles IX also held the title of Duke of
Angoulême before his accession to the throne. Here in 1619 the
Treaty of Angouleme was concluded between Queen Maria de Medici and
her son, King of France Louis XIII the Just, which ended the civil
war in France.
The last Duke of Angoulême was Louis-Antoine
(1775-1844), who ruled under the name of Louis XIX for several
minutes in 1830.
In Angoulême, the poet Mellen de Saint-Jelay
was born, the famous architect J.-B. Wallen-Delamot is a
corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Architecture, who
worked in Russia from 1759 to 1775, was a professor at the Academy
of Arts. In Angoulême, the oldest surviving color photograph was
taken by the French photographer Louis Duc du Aurone, dating back to
1872.
Since the 14th century, paper factories have flourished
in the city, and later printing houses, thanks to the year-round
availability of clean water at an almost constant temperature,
coming from underground rivers. According to ESBE, by the end of the
19th century there were “21 large paper mills in Angoulême,
distilleries, wax refineries, tanneries and armories. Trade, the
focus of which is the suburb of Gumo, is carried out mainly in
paper, bread, wine, vodka, hemp, flax, truffles, chestnuts, soap,
salt, corks, barrel boards, iron and copper goods. Not far from the
city is the Terouat gunpowder factory with 17 workshops, and in the
beautiful Tuvre valley, 6 km from Angoulême, a large cannon foundry
founded in 1750, which can supply up to 680 guns annually ”.
In 1903, during the Paris-Madrid auto race, Marcel Renault, one of
the founders of Renault, died near Angoulême. In the 20th century,
the city was famous for its auto racing; the circular route along
the boulevards of Angouleme, which were broken up on the site of the
former ramparts - one of the three surviving and operating in France
(after Monaco and Pau).
In 1940, after the surrender of
France, Angoulême found himself west of the border between the Vichy
and occupied territories. In 1944, during the Normandy operation,
the Angoulême railway station (Bordeaux-Poitiers line) was heavily
bombed.