Lescar Cathedral, Lescar, France - SpottingHistory.com

The building of Lescar Cathedral was begun in 1120 by Bishop Guy de Lons, and was sacked by the Protestants during the reign of Jeanne III of Navarre. It was restored in the 17th and 18th centuries. The apse, housing a pavement mosaic from the 12th century with hunting scenes, is in Romanesque style. In the interior, columns have capitals depicting histories of the life of Daniel, of the birth of Christ and the Sacrifice of Isaac.

From the end of the 15th century the cathedral was used as the burial place of the royal family of Navarre. Francis Phoebus was buried here in 1483, followed by Catherine of Navarre, her consort Jean d'Albret and several of their children, among them Henry II of Navarreand his wife Marguerite of Angoulême, grandparents of King Henry IV of France.

Of the funerary monuments ordered by Henry II, subjected to iconoclastic damage by Protestants and to the collapse of the sanctuary vault in 1599, nothing remains. Archaeological excavations in 1928-1929 were successful however in rediscovering the royal crypt and the remains of its occupants.

References:

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User Reviews

Pierre Goivier (17 months ago)
Cathédrale de style roman dont les bases datent du XII ème siècle. Le plus, c'est la vie imprenable sur les Pyrénées, Pau, le bas de Lescar, si l'on se rend vers les parapets.

Red Ibis (17 months ago)
30/04/2019 - Une cathédrale superbe postée sur sa colline dominant la ville basse avec une vue sur la chaîne des Pyrénées. La commune effectue en ce moment des travaux de voirie sur la place, mais l'accès à l'édifice est respecté. Belle réfection de l'ensemble. Que dire de cette Cathédrale, venir et admirer. L'orgue et l'organiste sont magnifiques. Bien sûr toujours à peu près les mêmes photos, mais tellement beau. Lieu de repos éternel des Rois et Reines de Navarre.

defauville philippe (18 months ago)
Activité musicale fournie, de qualité, sans extravagances en collaboration avec la Mairie. Très bonne restauration intérieure. Restauration de l'environnement extérieur en cours ; excessive et plutôt maladroite comme " le pavé de l'ours " ( cf. La Fontaine) Je fréquente l'endroit depuis des décennies. Trois étoiles et demies seulement à cause des remaniements du pourtour.

Christian Luby (18 months ago)
Majestueuse , dominant avec fierté la basse ville , art romant et curé en soutane : que demander de plus authentique ? Attention cependant aux travaux en cours qui perturbent un peu ce lieu de culte . Bravo à la mairie de Lescar de mettre en valeur un aussi joli site .

Benoit Trevisi (20 months ago)
Une jolie cathédrale qui témoigne de l ancienne puissance de l évêché de Lescar qui joua un rôle important contre les invasions des wisigoths, beau monument et un intérieur rénové. La mise en lumière du choeur permet de profiter des mosaïques et des peintures du choeur. La chapelle latérale est réservée à la prière. A la sortie, passez dans un petit réduit entre le choeur et le cimetière pour voir la decoration extérieure avec ses modillons, ses figures. A l intérieur, faites le tour des piliers pour admirer les chapiteaux, ils sont ornementaux ou racontent des scènes bibliques, une très belle visite. I

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The St Sophia's Cathedral was built between 1045-1050 inside the Novgorod Kremlin (fortress). It is one of the earliest stone structures of northern Russia. Its height is 38 m. Originally it was taller, for during the past nine centuries the lower part of the building became concealed by the two-metre thick cultural layer. The cathedral was built by Prince Vladimir, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, and until the 1130s this principal church of the city also served as the sepulchre of Novgorodian princes. For the Novgorodians, St Sophia became synonymous with their town, the symbol of civic power and independence.

The five-domed church looks simpler but no less impressive than its prototype, the thirteen-domed St Sophia of Kiev. The cathedral exterior is striking in its majesty and epic splendour evoking the memories of Novgorod's glorious past and invincible might. In the 11th century it looked more imposing than now. Its facade represented a gigantic mosaic of huge, coarsely trimmed irregular slabs of flagstone and shell rock. In some places (particularly on the apses), the wall was covered with mortar, smoothly polished, drawn up to imitate courses of brick or of whitestone slabs, and slightly coloured. As a result, the facade was not white, as it is today, but multicoloured. The play of stone, decorative painting and the building materials of various texture enhanced the impression of austere simplicity and introduced a picturesque effect.

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There is yet another bronze gate in the cathedral, called the Korsun Gate. Made in the 11th century in Chersonesos, Byzantium, it leads from the southern gallery into the Nativity Side-Chapel. Legend has it that the gate was handed over to Novgorod as a gift of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978 - 1054).

The interior of the cathedral is as majestic as its exterior. It is divided by huge piers into five aisles, three of which end in altar apses. In the south-western corner, inside the tower, there is a wide spiral in relatively small, modest buildings of the 12th - 16th centuries.

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