DGod is dead? The Nietzschean antiphon has been infused in people's minds for decades. We talk about the decline of religion, nihilism gallops, the god-man triumphs. But, a postmodern paradox, crowds flock to the great Christian temples. Enough to wake the master historian Georges Duby from the dead, here has returned “the time of the cathedrals”, which he once celebrated in a masterful book that has become a classic.
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Contemporary artists take over the choirs, where pilgrims, heritage enthusiasts, those curious about beauty, or simple tourists gather. Prelates, kings, presidents seek to capture, in the setting of these old eternal stones, a piece of power which in this world is slipping through their fingers.
The Point auscultated in an exceptional special issue of 100 pages “The power of cathedrals”.
Traditionally, kings were crowned in the cathedral of Reims and buried in the Saint-Denis basilica, but Notre-Dame de Paris, restored by the architect Viollet-le-Duc, the surgeon of cathedrals, in the 19the century, has become over the centuries the ship of the powerful, whether they are monarchical sovereigns, republican heads of state and government or revolutionary leaders. Walt Disney and Hollywood made him an American star.
“This Gothic building reads like a novel”, tells us in this special issue the English novelist Ken Follett, the author of Pillars of the earth. From Victor Hugo to Sylvain Tesson – who climbed it many times, as he tells us in a magnificent ode to the burned cathedral – the Paris lighthouse has always fired the imagination.
Behind the scenes of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, five years after the fire
By marking global minds, beyond borders and murderous identities so well autopsied by the writer Amin Maalouf, the fire at Notre-Dame in April 2019 underlined that, even in a dechristianized West, where landmarks are disintegrating , a cathedral could remain a landmark. A spiritual watch, in the broad sense. The spire of Notre-Dame, as the backbone of our society.
The reopening on December 7 and 8 in mondiovision of this church of the nation, at the end of an extraordinary project which mobilized nearly 850 million euros and 2,000 craftsmen over five years, is nothing short of a miracle. The Point tells you behind the scenes.
“Never has the power of cathedrals been so powerful”
But all over the world, cathedrals are being built, enlarged and embellished. In Yamoussoukro, in Ivory Coast, Félix Houphouët-Boigny wanted to build the largest church in Africa – his story is incredible, we tell it to you. Today, Vladimir Putin uses Orthodox cathedrals to rearm minds and serve his imperialist ambitions, as the specialist in Orthodoxy, Russia and Ukraine, Jean-François Colosimo, deciphers for us. “Never has the power of cathedrals been so powerful,” explains the historian specializing in religious heritage, Mathieu Lours.
To enter – for free – into these houses of faith open to all, is to enter a world of mysteries, to nourish your imagination, and to go from the visible to the invisible. As Chagall did by adorning the Metz cathedral with magnificent stained glass windows, let us relate. Like Kamel Daoud, 2024 Goncourt Prize and columnist for Pointexpresses it in a new text after a disenchanted stroll in the Cathedral of the Sacré-Cœur in Oran. As Sébastien Lapaque, Renaudot Essais 2024 Prize and contributor to our newspaper, in a report also unpublished, brings it to our attention in Brasilia, Brazil.
To Discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
We plunged into the intimacy of Chartres Cathedral at night, tried to read the mysteries that are tangled in Saint-Étienne de Toulouse and Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, excavated the Treasures which are full of ancestral, and often little-known, wonders. With this exceptional special issue, served by luxurious iconography and prestigious signatures, The Point invites you to a great trip, close to home.
The power of cathedralsspecial edition, 10.90 euros, 100 pages, available on newsstands and on our online store.
