What you need to know about Narbonne Cathedral… which remained unfinished

Invited by the Archaeological Commission, the honorary architect of Historic Monuments Jean-Louis Rebière fascinated his audience on Monday December 16. Because it is by collaborating on the future renovation project of the upper part of the cathedral that this eminent architect, keen on history, sometimes visits our city.

Did the ride of the Black Prince, arriving at the gates of the city, have a consequence on the completion of the cathedral? The consuls opposed the demolition of the ramparts, a principle imposed by the completion of the religious building. “The rampart reached diagonally from the church, and the refusal of the consuls stopped the momentum of the construction” explains Jean-Louis Rebière. Future constructions would have come up against the city wall, it was not possible to raise the transept without touching the 5th century rampart.

Foundation stone for work relaunched with great fanfare

At the beginning of the 18th century Archbishop Le Goux de la Berchèrea scholar, relaunched the construction of the nave of the Saint-Just Saint-Pasteur cathedral, of which he laid the first stone in 1708, in which a cassette containing relics of Saints Just and Pasteur was sealed, in the Saint-Eutrope courtyard. “There was talk at the beginning of nine bays, which would have been gigantic, you have to imagine that the cathedral would go as far as the old Bank of France. Another text mentions 5 bays, with two chapels. But he died before seeing his project come to fruition, and was buried in the Saint-Charles chapel.“.

His successor François de Beauveau du Rivau, who showed his desire to continue the momentum, but by reducing it to two spans, did not continue. “Monsignor Dillon made a valuable inventory, unfortunately things have progressed little due to lack of sufficient funds.“. The work was abandoned and at the Restoration aristocrats dreamed of the archbishopric returning to Narbonne, but the July Monarchy put an end to this intention. “Even if the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs, with the support of a deputy, had obtained the release of funds, 40,000 francs, to complete the cathedral. Viollet-le-Duc, who had already come to the region, started a new project, and left several studies, which we have in the municipal archives and in Paris, but if they do not always overlap… He made a magnificent project, considered too expensive and we opted for a simpler one“Unfortunately, due to lack of money, the work on the cathedral was abandoned and has remained on hold ever since!

“The classification of the choir by the Historic Monuments had the consequence that the funds necessary for the continuation of the work had been allocated to the choir, which blocked the construction. It should be remembered that Narbonne having missed the boat of the Canal du Midi, had seen its economic and political power decline. It no longer occupied the first place in Languedoc because the archbishops of Narbonne were also presidents of the States of Languedoc. For Jean-Louis Rebière, the cathedral suffered from this drift of political power towards other Languedoc towns.