Let us tell you all about Laon Cathedral...

Here you are on the north side of the cathedral, on today's Place Aubry. Behind you are the stairs leading from the old Germaine Gate to the Yitzhak Rabin Promenade. Take the opportunity to lean against the low wall of the ramparts and watch the northern plain stretch out before you...

The early Gothic age: the example of Laon When work began on the Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Laon in the early 1150s, other towns in Picardy had already started construction. These included Noyon and Senlis, which, after the abbey church of Saint-Denis, were the first to adopt the rules of Gothic architecture. So what are these rules? They were characterised by a new desire for lightness, clarity and height. From then on, the architecture was based on the use of the ribbed crossing, which directs the thrust of the vault towards the pillars. As these pillars were themselves consolidated on the outside by buttresses and arches, the walls no longer supported the entire structure on their own. This makes it possible to create very high windows to let in the light. Work on this cathedral began with the choir, completed in its first version around 1170, and the transept. It then progressed to the nave, and the western façade was completed, most probably before 1200. The three portals on this façade are topped by sculpted triangular pediments known as ‘gâbles’. This is one of Laon's most original features, and one that cannot be found in any other cathedral of this period. It is also the only early Gothic building to have been designed with three facades with double towers, which served as a model for Chartres cathedral. In Germany, the cathedrals of Bamberg and Naumburg were also inspired by it.

Look up and admire the two facade towers adorned with their distinctive oxen! The cathedral has three other towers, including the lantern tower, whose function - as its name suggests - is to bring light into the transept. And in the end, it was supposed to have two others that were never built...

They are part of the famous ‘7 wonders of Laon’. Let us reveal them to you!

Come closer and see how prominent and richly decorated the three front portals are...

From its foundation until the end of the 18th century, the cathedral was very regularly maintained. But after the French Revolution, Notre-Dame de Laon lost its status as a cathedral and became a simple parish church. During the first half of the 19th century, it was abandoned. So much so that its general condition became worrying: the two towers on the west façade were in danger of collapsing, major cracks were discovered in the vaulting, and the sculpted decoration was crumbling everywhere. In 1840, the church was listed as a Historic Monument. The first restoration work then began. But it wasn't until the work of Émile Boeswillwald, a close friend of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, in 1853, that Notre-Dame de Laon finally underwent a complete restoration of its vault and the sculpted decoration of its portals. For almost fifty years, Boeswillwald supervised the work. It was his life's work. On the central portal, beneath the gargoyle, his sculpted head is a reminder of his tireless dedication to saving the building. On the eve of the First World War, it was the second largest restoration project in France, after Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Now come and stand in front of the portal on the right, the one through which you will enter the cathedral...

In the Middle Ages, the Church dominated society, and life was organised around the major Christian festivals. The faithful went to mass on Sundays and listened to sermons. But at a time when the majority of the population was illiterate and did not understand Latin, Christianity was taught through images. So the main episodes in the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary were sculpted on the portals of cathedrals and churches. The didactic intent was clear: the message of God had to be brought to life, and the faithful had to be imbued with the lessons of the Church. Some major themes were constantly repeated from one cathedral to the next: the Christ of the Last Judgement, as at Saint-Denis or Laon, which announces the end of time and the resurrection, or the Coronation of the Virgin, as at Paris or Senlis, which appeared as early as the end of the 12th century. Although religious sculpture reached its apogee in the early 13th century, it was not an invention of Gothic architecture. It already existed in Romanesque art. But what was new in the 12th century was that religion was becoming more human and moving away from the fears of the year 1000. Sculpture softened the face of Christ, associated the Virgin with her Son and consecrated the advent of a pacified Christianity.

Here you are in the great nave of the cathedral, admiring the perspective and the light!

Nothing is known about the builders of this cathedral. However, the similarities between Notre-Dame de Laon and the cathedrals of Senlis and Noyon suggest that they were familiar with the other towns in Picardy, and that they may have trained in the Ile-de-France region. The builders were skilled craftsmen, remarkable for their technical knowledge. Skilled surveyors, they mastered the calculation of proportions. The proof is in the centre of the nave, with a black stone embedded in the paving. Four rectangles are engraved on it. These are the reference rectangles that would have been used for the regular layout of the building. Two of these rectangles are in the proportions of the golden ratio, obtained with the compass and embodying divine perfection. The other two require a perfect knowledge of geometric sequences, one of which is based on the square. All these mathematical figures bear witness to the genius of the cathedral's architects. On this site, all the skills were brought together: quarrymen, masons, stonemasons, sculptors, carpenters, blacksmiths, glassmakers... But the main difficulty in building a cathedral lay in transporting the materials. Large quantities of stone, wood and sand were needed to supply the site. Fortunately, Laon and the surrounding area had numerous underground quarries that were easy to access and very rich in good quality limestone.

You will notice that the aisles contain numerous chapels. These chapels were added between 1294 and the mid-14th century to meet the growing demand from brotherhoods and guilds. Each chapel was dedicated to a patron saint and was used for private masses, and above all as a reminder of the power of Laon's most important families. Throughout the Middle Ages, these chapels were decorated with objets d'art, polychrome murals and altarpieces. At the end of the Renaissance, the chapels were enclosed by stone fences. These fences follow an identical construction model: a base sculpted with bas-reliefs, a clerestory with Doric columns and four pilasters framing a sculpted oak door. Such an ornamental ensemble is unique in France today. These chapels lost most of their decoration and furnishings during the French Revolution...

The polychrome paving in this chapel, laid in 1997, was made by pupils aged 6 to 12. These small ceramic tiles are reminiscent of the rich pavements that decorated religious buildings in the Middle Ages. The tradition dates back to the early 12th century. Originally, the first pavements were made up of yellow and green monochrome tiles. Then, in the middle of the 13th century, tiles on a red background made their appearance, allowing for new combinations of colours. The most common motifs in the 14th and 15th centuries were rosettes and fleurs-de-lis. In the early 17th century, these were gradually replaced by stone or black and white marble tiles. This marked the end of coloured floors in cathedrals...

Many local festivals punctuated religious life in medieval times: have you heard of the Donkey Festival or the Festival of Fools?

You are now in the transverse vessel separating the nave from the choir, the transept...

The seven Liberal Arts have been defined since Antiquity (and were later discovered by Alcuin, Charlemagne's adviser), usually divided into : - Trivium (study of ‘voces’, words, language): Grammar / Dialectics / Rhetoric - Quadrivium (study of ‘res’, things, numbers): Arithmetic / Music / Geometry / Astronomy. Here in Laon, there are some slight modifications: firstly, in the treatment of the arch, Medicine and Architecture are added to the 7 Liberal Arts; and also for the Rose, Medicine is also present, and the central medallion is occupied by Philosophy (‘Wisdom and her seven daughters’). The climate surrounding the construction of the cathedral in the late 12th century was imbued with the thought of Hugues de Saint-Victor (1096 - 1141, theologian and philosopher), who emphasised the importance of the so-called Mechanical Arts (such as architecture and medicine) elevated to the level of knowledge considered necessary. However, even though medicine was not officially one of the 7 Arts, it was increasingly linked to them in the Middle Ages, as it was beginning to become a science in its own right.

Does the name Abelard ring a bell? Of course, because of his tormented love affair with Heloise! But in Laon he was also a pupil of Maître Anselme, considered to be one of the greatest theologians of his time...

You can't miss it, it's made of Tournai blue stone...

In the Middle Ages, religious sculpture used animals to strike a chord. Everywhere, the most incredible legends were depicted to symbolise the fear of the devil and God's victory over evil. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, artists often used the Miroir de l'Église by Honorius of Autun as a reference. This book classifies animal figures according to their significance. The dragon is considered an evil beast, while the unicorn symbolises the purity of the Virgin. On the sculptures of the portals, the same symbols from the religious bestiary are associated from one cathedral to another: the gorgons of the Apocalypse, the serpent of Genesis, the dove of the Holy Spirit. At a time when the vast majority of the population could neither read nor write, animal symbolism was a simple way for the Church to spread the message of Christ.

This oak fence dates from the 15th century and was probably made by local cabinet-makers. Moved several times, it has enclosed the Sepulchre chapel since 1840. Its decoration is typical of the late Gothic period: napkin folds in the lower panels, a finely chiselled clerestory, and two religious figures at prayer overlooking the whole. It is a remarkable example of late medieval woodcarving!

You are now at the eastern end of the cathedral: the choir, that part of a cathedral (or church) where the high altar is located and where the clergy and cantors stood...

Since the Middle Ages, Laon cathedral has featured a juxtaposition of highly differentiated sacred spaces. It is the diocese's main church, where people come to venerate the Virgin and the relics of Saint Génébaud, the city's first bishop. But it is also the pilgrims' church, and above all the building of the bishop and the chapter. Until the 18th century, the choir was completely closed to the faithful. A stone fence and the rood screen prevented profane people from entering. But in 1772, the clergy decided to change the cathedral's liturgical arrangements and designed a new decoration. The rood screen was demolished, the stone fences around the sanctuary were pulled down and gilded wrought-iron railings were installed. However, this new decoration, inspired by Baroque aesthetics, completely disappeared during the French Revolution. All that remains is the tomb of Cardinal de Rochechouart, the last bishop of Laon, who died in 1777 and is buried behind the high altar. The current choir screen, gilded with fine gold, comes from the Célestins convent in Villeneuve-Saint-Germain. At the end of the 19th century, to meet the new demands of modern liturgy, Émile Boeswillwald reorganised the choir in the neo-Gothic style. The altar was finally installed in 1912.

The canons, attached to the service of the bishop, were buried in the cathedral at the time; come and admire some of the funerary slabs in this chapel...

In medieval times, the college of canons of Laon was one of the most important in the kingdom, and one of the most powerful...

Have you noticed that the chevet of Laon Cathedral is flat? A rich programme of iconography can be seen there, so let's take a closer look...

The miracle of Theophilus was a fairly common theme in 13th-century stained glass; in addition to Laon, it can also be found in Chartres and Le Mans...

This icon, painted on wood, represents the face of Christ. It belongs to the family of religious images considered to be ‘not made by the hand of man’, which were particularly venerated in the Middle Ages. It is thought to date from the second half of the twelfth or early thirteenth century. In 1249, a canon of the cathedral, Jacques de Troyes, the future Pope Urban IV, sent it from Rome to his sister, who was then Mother Superior of the Cistercian abbey of Montreuil-en-Thiérache, not far from Laon. Since 1795, the icon has been kept in the cathedral treasury. Restored in 1990, it has been on display since 1992 in the Saint-Paul chapel, behind a humidity-stabilised, airtight display case.

Home to numerous relics of saints, Laon was a favourite stopping-off point for pilgrims from all over the world...

In the Middle Ages, Laon's canonical quarter, enclosed by walls and gates, formed a veritable city within the city. It was completely rebuilt in the second half of the 12th century. It comprised around fifty houses where the canons lived separately, surrounded by their families, chaplains and servants. The members of the chapter met every morning in the cloister for prayers, attended Mass, ate their meals together in the refectory, and for major decisions, they gathered in the chapter house. Today, the walls and gates that enclosed the canonical quarter have almost disappeared and the medieval houses of the canons are no longer visible, except for the one in the ruelle Pourrier: you can recognise it by its two round chimneys...