Angers Cathedral () is a Catholic church dedicated to Saint Maurice in Angers, France. It is the seat of the Bishops of Angers.
Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, it is known for its mixture of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and its ornate Baroque altar and sculpture. It also has an extensive collection of stained-glass windows, including several elements from the late 12th century, one of the earliest uses of grisaille glass in combination with coloured glass, and two rose windows depicting the Last Judgement and the Apocalypse, unique in French renaissance stained-glass.
History The first cathedral The earliest cathedral on the site was dedicated to the Virgin Mary but in 396 Saint Martin, the Archbishop of Tours, added the Theban legion Egyptian martyr Saint Maurice to the dedication. He had acquired a relic of some of the blood of the members of the Theban Legion, who were martyred with Saint Maurice in the 3rd century for converting to Christianity. The relic was brought to Tours and later, according to the legend, a phial of it was given to Angers.
In the 7th century, an additional devotion to Saint Maurilius, the Bishop of Angers in the 4th century, began. A biography of him was written and in 873 his body was transferred to the cathedral. For 200 years Saints Maurilius and Maurice were frequently mentioned together as the patron saints of the cathedral but gradually Saint Maurice became the primary patron.David King, "Angers Cathedral", (book review of Karine Boulanger's 2010 book, Les Vitraux de la Cathédrale d’Angers, the 11th volume of the Corpus Vitrearum series from France), Vidimus: the only on-line magazine devoted to medieval stained glass, Issue 48, February 2011, retrieved 17 December 2013
The Romanesque to the Baroque cathedral At the beginning of the 11th century, Hubert de Vendôme, the Bishop of Angers from 1010 to 1047, decided to build a new cathedral in the Romanesque style to replace the existing church. The new church was consecrated on 16 August 1025, but in 1032 it was ravaged by a fire.
Geoffroy de Tours, the Bishop of Angers from 1081 to 1093, ordered the reconstruction of the cathedral, which continued under the supervision of his successors, Renaud de Martigné (1102–1125), Ulger (1125–1148) and Normand de Doué (1148–1153). The altar crucifix was blessed in 1051 and the new altar was consecrated in 1096. "Les cathédrales dans les Pays de la Loire [The Cathedrals of the Loire Valley]", Revue 303, Issue No. 70, September 2001
In the mid-12th century, the cathedral underwent another transformation. Atop the Romanesque lower walls new walls and vaults were constructed in the Angevin variation of Gothic architecture; which took its name from the historic province of Anjou, a fiefdom of the French crown. The vaults were composed of high crossing ribs, supported by rows of clustered columns and pillars in the nave below. This allowed the construction of very large windows on the upper walls between the ribs. filling the interior with light.
The rebuilding of the nave was followed by that of the choir and the new transept. This was carried out between 1235 and 1274, largely under the direction of Guillaume de Beaumont, the Bishop of Angers from 1203 to 1240. The choir followed a similar design as the nave, with the grand arches replaced by large blind arches topped with a narrow passageway, now decorated with a wrought-iron railing, below the large windows of the upper level. The arches are taller a more slender than those of the nave, and the decoration more stylised.
In the 17th century the interior of the church underwent another rebuilding; Angers Cathedral was one of the first in France to redesign its interior following the directives of the Council of Trent, to make the interior more welcoming and decorative for ordinary worshippers, and to remove the barriers between the clergy and the congregation. This was the arrival of Baroque architecture into churches. The jubé, or rood screen, which separated the clergy and congregation was removed, and the altar was moved from the center of the choir to a position closer to the congregation in the nave. The majestic new baldaquin over the altar, with columns of red marble supporting a great crown of filled with sculpture, was installed in 1757. The altar beneath faces both toward the clergy in the choir and the worshippers in the nave.
Renaissance and later additions In the 16th century, the architect Jean Delespine constructed a new base to the two towers. The lower portio, in the new Renaissance style, was covered with sculpture depicting Saint Maurice and his seven knight-companions and their martyrdom. They also gave the central tower a Renaissance-style hexagonal crown, finished in 1515. Another Renaissance spire was built atop the south tower, completed in 1523.Louis de Farcy, Monographie de la cathédrale d'Angers [Monograph of the Cathedral of Angers], 3 Volumes (Angers: Josselin-Belhomme, 1901, 1905, 1910) The deteriorating original sculptures were largely replaced with copies in 1909.Laissez-vous conter la cathédrale Saint-Maurice : Angers Patrimoines – Angers.fr (in French)
19th and 20th century In 1806, the mediaeval porch on the west front had to be demolished because of its dilapidated condition. Built in the Angevin Gothic style in front of the entrance gate, it had two levels. Four pointed arches are the only surviving vestiges of the original porch. In the mid-19th century, the Neo-Gothic pulpit was created by the Bishop Choyer, with the support of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who was overseeing multiple Gothic restoration projects in France.
Various reconstruction projects were developed in the 20th century but none of them went beyond the planning stage.
21st century The removal of the mediaeval porch in 1806 illustrated its importance, as the fragile sculpture on the now bare facade started deteriorating and eroding rapidly. To protect these carvings and statues, a new porch was constructed on the cathedral in the 2020s, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and officially opened in April 2026. Kuma sought to create "a harmonious dialogue" with the structure of the cathedral, however, the €5.5 million project was met with mixed reactions, with the town reportedly torn between labeling the addition as a "jewel or a wart".
Design
The original Romanesque church was rebuilt with Gothic details in the mid-12th century. The single aisle was vaulted with pointed arches resting on a re-clad interior elevation. The nave consists of three simple bays, with single bays on either side of a crossing forming a transept, followed by a single-bay choir, backed by an apse.
Dimensions Overall length: Width of the west front: Height of the vault of the nave: Width of the nave: (same as the Chartres Cathedral) Length of the nave: Height of the two spires:
Exterior The west front
The west front clearly illustrates the three different periods of the construction of the cathedral. The lower portions are Romanesque, with thick walls, rounded arches, and a Romanesque portal and a central window. The towers on either side are Flamboyant Gothic, with rich decoration and a delicate dissymmetry. The central tower is a work of Renaissance architecture, with classical influences, built between 1533 and 1537.
The portal, much damaged and restored over the centuries, originally was protected by a porch. The tympanum over the doorway represents Christ in majesty, and it is decorated with column-statues from the 12th century. The decorative ironwork on the doors dates to the Romanesque period. Above the portal is a later gallery of sculptures depicting eight knights, who represent the companions of Saint Maurice, who joined him in his martyrdom. It was added in the 16th century. The originals were replaced with copies in 1909.
Interior The nave
The nave was constructed as a single vessel, without chapels. The current chapel on the south lower nave was originally a separate church for the parish, which was later attached to the cathedral. The lower walls are Romanesque, rebuilt in the early 11th century. In about 1150, a major rebuilding added the enormous arches between the supports of the Romanesque walls, up to the middle level of the walls. Then massive pillars of clustered columns were put in place supporting the arches of three large vaults. The space between ribs of the vaults on the upper walls was filled with very large stained glass windows, filling the interior with light.
The choir and transept
The choir and transept were constructed after the nave, between 1235 and 1274. The walls and vaults were similar to those of the choir, except that the arcade of large pillars was replaced by blind arches, topped with a narrow passageway halfway up the wall, with a balustrade of cast iron.
The decoration of the choir is particularly notable. Angers was one of the first cathedrals in France to adapt the new Baroque style, imposed by the Vatican Council of Trent in order to make the altar more visible from the nave and to make the interior more dramatic and inspiring. The old rood screen that separated the choir from the nave was demolished, and the altar was placed between the two spaces. facing both. In 1757, the enormous Baroque ciborium or altar canopy, supported by columns of red marble and crowned with a pyramid of sculpture by Gervais was put into place.
Art and decoration
Stained glass
The window depicting the Childhood of Christ (Bay 127) contain the oldest glass in the cathedral. The three top panels were donated between 1163 and 1177 by the cantor Hugues de Semblançay. From top to bottom, they depict the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Annunciation. The fourth and bottom panel depicts the calling of Saint Peter and Paul, and dates the cathedral's second major glazing campaign, between 1230 and 1235. This bottom piece probably finds its origin in a window dedicated to Saint Andrew. The whole window is in poor condition, among other reasons because it remained in place during the Second World War, and was partially blown out by a bomb in 1944.
At the end of the 12th century, under Bishop Raoul de Beaumont, new windows were made for the nave. Windows from this period depict the Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Bay 125), the Glorification of the Virgin Mary (Bay 123) and the Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (Bay 119). Perhaps most important in all of Angers Cathedral is the window depicting the Virgin and the Child (Bay 127), which according to art historian Karine Boulanger displays "one of the earliest examples of stained glass presenting both a colored scene and a grisaille frame." Moreover, this window includes two medallions at the bottom, showing us two bishops, and likely donors of the windows (Guillaume de Beaumont and Raoul de Beaumont?) All were largely completed between 1190 and 1210, although all were edited and restored several times throughout the centuries.