Construction
cathedral located in Ille-et-Vilaine, in France
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Dol-de-Bretagne Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Samson de Dol) is a Roman Catholic church located in Dol-de-Bretagne. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Samson, one of the seven founding saints of Brittany. It was formerly the seat of the Archbishop of Dol, one of the nine ancient bishoprics of Brittany. The cathedral suffered badly from the excesses of the French Revolution, becoming successively a "Temple de la Raison", then a stable, then a warehouse. Revolutionaries caused considerable damage and many treasures were lost. When it eventually returned to being a house of worship, its role as a bishopric was abolished by the Concordat of 1801 when the Dol diocese was merged into the Dioceses of Rennes and Saint-Malo. The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris, which sought national reconciliation between revolutionaries and Catholics. The Concordat was abrogated by the law of 1905 on the separation of church and state.
The building is notable for its eclectic mix of styles and idiosyncrasies, such as the incomplete north tower on the main west-facing entrance. The tower was begun in 1520 but never finished due to lack of funds. A local myth has it that the top was knocked off by the devil, who threw the nearby Dol-de-Bretagne menhir at the building.
The current cathedral dates to the 13th century and is primarily Gothic in style with both Norman and English influences. It was built on the site of an old church where Nominoë was crowned as the first king of Brittany in 850. This old church was replaced by a Romanesque style cathedral which was in turn destroyed in 1203 by the soldiers of King John and little is left of that building today. The cathedral has retained little of the old furnishings as in 1742 the cathedral chapter decided to get rid of all the old bishop's tombs and relaid the choir paving and in 1793 the rood screen which had separated the choir from the nave was demolished and was replaced by an iron grill on the orders of the zealots of the revolution.
Samson was born in Wales at the end of the 5th century. He became a monk and was the superior of a monastery in Caldey. He moved to Ireland and in around 548 made the journey to Armorica with several colleagues and founded a monastery there. Later, with the support of the Breton king Judicael, he played a key role in the foundation of the city of Dol and its bishopric. He died in 565 in Dol having nominated Magloire as his successor and his tomb was to become the destination of numerous pilgrims and is included in the Breton Tro Breizh. One of the stained glass window frames in the cathedral depicts Samson sailing for Armorica ("Saint Samson fait voile vers l'Armorique").
From Saint Samson in the 6th century to Monseigneur de Hercé, shot at Vannes in 1795, more than 80 bishops have occupied the bishopric of Dol. Since 1880 the Archbishop of Rennes is the Archbishop of Rennes, Dol and Saint-Malo.
In 548 Samson arrived in Dol from Wales and founded a monastery there; In 555 Judicael, the Breton king, directed that the monastery be regarded as a bishopric.
After the coronation of Nominoë, the Breton ruler in 848, he promoted the bishop to archbishop and the city became the religious capital of Brittany ("la Métropole ecclésiastique de la Bretagne") and soon a cathedral replaced the existing church. This was destroyed by the Vikings in 1014. A Romanesque cathedral was then built. In the middle of the eleventh century there was a dispute between Pope Gregory VII and the kings of France supported by the Archbishop of Tours over Dol-de-Bretagne filling the role of a bishopric and in 1199 the bishopric was withdrawn and jurisdiction was returned to the Archbishop of Tours. Nominoë's actions were effectively reversed.
William the Conqueror laid siege to Dol on three occasions. In 1065, William the Conqueror was in conflict with Conan II who had succeeded Alain III and laid siege to Dol. This siege is depicted in part of the Bayeux Tapestry. A second siege took place in 1076 and lasted 40 days until the intervention of King Philippe Ist. A third siege is said to have taken place in 1086.
In 1203, the English king, John Lackland, known in France as "Jean sans Terre" and the presumed murderer of Arthur de Bretagne burned the Romanesque cathedral down and occupied Dol for one year; there are few remnants of that building. Then, fearing for his soul and in a fit of remorse, he put up funds towards the cathedral's reconstruction which was started the same year under the episcopacy of the bishop Jean VII de Lizaunet. In a small corner of the south tower, there is a carving depicting "Jean sans Terre" bearing a rictus grin. He was certainly no friend of the people of Dol.
By 1223, the nave had been completed and subsequently, the relics of Saint Samson were brought back to the cathedral from Normandy to where they had been taken for reasons of security. The nave has seven crossings and the classical gothic elevation of arcades, triforium and high windows with a walkway beneath them. De Lizaunet's successor Clément de Vitré (known as Clément de Coetquen or de Coetquin) saw to the construction of the transept and the choir. The choir has five crossings and ten side chapels and terminates with a rectangular chevet. The presence of the relics of Saint Samson attracted pilgrims and this necessitated the addition of an ambulatory. The choir, ambulatory and ten side chapels around the ambulatory were completed by 1279. The cathedral was now functional although it's Gothic towers had still to be constructed.
The porches on the south side of the cathedral were added in the 14th and 15th century. At around this time, the chapter-house and treasury were also added.
Stendhal described the cathedral as "un des ouvrages les plus remarquables que l'architecture gothique puisse offrir à notre admiration".
An architrave with a leaf pattern extends across the entire width of the façade. The gable is surmounted by the statue of a bishop.
The side-chapels of the choir are surmounted by a crenellated parapet with arrow-slits giving the cathedral the look of a fortress.
The cathedral has two porches.
Situated between the cathedral's two towers, the large rectangular west porch is a remnant of the earlier Romanesque cathedral. In the 15th century Bishop Coeuret had the vaulting erected on intersecting ogival arches. The trefoiled doors within the porch give access to the cathedral. The measurements of the porch are 6 metres 20 by 7 metres 60. The keystone on the porch's vaulting bears the Coeuret coat of arms.
The cathedral's "Grand Porch", also known as the "Chapitret" or the "Porche Saint-Magloire", consists of three arcades decorated with 38 bas-reliefs and 132 statuettes in white stone by the Prix de Rome winner Jean Boucher (artist). The doorway itself is made from granite and dates to the 14th century.
The central arcade shows scenes from the life of Christ: The Calvary; Jesus healing a sick man; Jesus amongst the lawyers; the agony in the garden of Gethsemane; Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows); Simon of Cyrene; the Adoring Angels; the "Sainte-Face" (the face of Christ) and Adam and Eve (A copy of the bas-relief at Notre-Dame de Paris)
The east facing arcade by the well shows scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary: Mary carrying the baby Jesus; the flight into Egypt; the coronation; the Visitation; the Annunciation; the Nativity and the Annunciation to the shepherds.
The west facing arcade shows scenes from the history of Bretagne: the death of Saint Samson; the calling of Judicael; the arrest of Sainte-Catherine; Charity; the blessing of Nominoe as he departs for the crusades; a Dol saint receiving a visit from several people one of whom carries a plea to the king; the martyrdom of Sainte Catherine and the good and the bad rich man.
Here are some images of Boucher's magnificent carvings.
Etienne Nicol described Boucher's carvings "Dignes de la grande tradition des imagiers en granite du moyen age".
The south facade contains a small porch first built in the 13th century and known as the Bishop's porch as it allowed the bishop private entrance. This was replaced by a much grander porch in the 15th century which was decorated at the end of the 19th century with biblical relief carvings by the sculptor Jean Boucher including the tree of Jesse (Arbre de Jessé). A coat of arms in the tympanum depicts three hearts and is the arms of bishop Cœuret (1405-1429) who instigated the 15th-century replacement. The porch has a triangular pediment with two ogival arcades resting on colonnettes. The interior is decorated with ogival arcades, rose windows and white stone carved with foliage. The porch measures 3 metres 70 by 3 metres 20.
The cathedral has two towers.
Some have likened the north tower to a dungeon rather than the tower of a cathedral and it retains some parts of the original Romanesque tower. Construction of the tower started in 1520 during the episcopy of Mathurin de Plédran (1504-1521) but the tower was not completed due to a lack of funds. Only four stories were built plus the ground floor. The tower is supported by two large buttresses and each of its four floors is lit by two small windows with a frieze above carved in the manner of a lambrequin.
The south tower was built between the 13th and 17th centuries. It has four stories including the ground floor and is 52 metres high. The bell-tower (campanile) dates to the 17th century.
The nave has seven bays of which six have side-aisles. It has five great arcades surmounted by a triforium and a clerestory: the traditional gothic elevation.
The centre of the transept is formed by four Gothic arcs de triomphe. The north transept has a window dedicated to Saint Anne and the south transept has a window dedicated to Saint Magloire. The north transept holds the tombs of Thomas James and Jean de Bruc.
Completed in 1265 when Monseigneur Jean Mahé started his bishopric.
The cathedral chevet opens onto the ambulatory through two arches. In a niche in the chevet area, there is a small statue of the Virgin Mary with child.
The 77 oak stalls furnishing the choir date to the early 14th century and are the oldest and most important in Brittany. The carvings are on the arm-rests of each stall rather than as at Tréguier and Saint Pol where they decorate the miséricords. At Dol, the wood-carvers have carved what is almost a complete cross section of the medieval population of the town.
The cathedral is best entered by the west porch and portal with the north tower on the left and south tower to the right. The cathedral's so-called "small porch" is located in the south nave. Also in the south nave and just before the south transept is the former chapter house and the chapels of Saint Magloire and the Holy Sacrament. The tomb of Thomas James is located in the north transept. Around the choir are ten chapels. Along the north side of the choir are the chapel of Saint Coeur, the chapel of saints Gilles and Roch, the chapel of saints Gilduin and Méen and the chapel of the Holy Virgin and along the south side are the sacristy, then the chapels of saints Joseph and Theresa, the chapel of Saint Michael, the chapel of Our Lady of Pity and the chapel of the Crucifix. Just before the south transept is the baptistry and the south transept is essentially the Great Porch. At the eastern end of the cathedral is the apsidal chapel, the chapel of Saint Samson.
In the choir area there is a bishop's throne or cathedra dating to the 16th century. It bears the arms of Bishop François de Laval, the sitting bishop at Dol from 1528 to 1556. Above the chair there is a finely carved crook which used to stand behind the high altar in the 18th century. It was fashioned by a Rouen sculptor called Tarlé.
The cathedral has two high altars. One is old and the other very modern.
Records do not show when the first high altar was installed in the cathedral ("Maître-Autel") but in 1410 it was recorded that Monseigneur Étienne Coeuret commissioned the Rennes sculptor Pierre Picart to create columns around the existing high altar these bearing coats of arms and angels holding the instruments of the passion. Near this altar and under a baldaquin the relics of Saint Samson were placed. Above this was a cross holding the "pyxide" which held the ciborium. This altar disappeared in 1744 and a new high altar was installed, this at the instigation of Monseigneur Jean-Louis de Bouschet de Sourches. It was the work of the Laval atelier of Maurice Pierlet and Honoré Pincé. In 1877, a completely new high altar was installed this by the goldsmiths Poussièlgue-Rusand based on a design by Canon Brune.
Since 1980 a completely new altar and ambo is in use, this placed in the centre of the transept. This altar is the work of Claude Gruer and is made from refractory clay and was carved directly without the use of a mould. Cuboid in form, the main faces of the altar are decorated with images of the Last Supper and another of Christ being taken down from the cross. On the secondary faces are depictions of Saint Samson crossing the channel and Saint Magloire pacifying English soldiers. It was Abbé Jules Orrière who pushed for this altar to be commissioned.
The oak pulpit was carved by the Augerie de Vitré atelier in 1898. It was commissioned by François-Joseph Turmel. The panels of the pulpit are decorated with five bas-reliefs and six statuettes depicting the great Dol saints.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Dol Cathedral”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.