Tréguier Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral in Tréguier, Côtes-d'Armor, France. It is dedicated to Saint Tudwal. The church was formerly the seat of the Bishopric of Tréguier, abolished under the Concordat of 1801, when its territories were divided between the Diocese of Quimper and the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, known since 1852 as Saint-Brieuc-Tréguier.
The cathedral Saint-Tugdual in Tréguier
The existence of this fine cathedral in what is effectively a small town is due to the fact that Tréguier was to become a place of pilgrimage for two men; Saint Tugdual, a Welshman and Saint Yves. Tréguier is no longer the seat of a bishop, the bishopric having been abolished in 1801 when it was divided between the diocese of Quimper and Saint-Brieuc. However the church is still referred to as Tréguier Cathedral.
It was in the 6th century that Anglo-Saxon invasions caused Saint Tugdual to leave Wales and settle in Brittany. Tugdual had been a pupil at the monastery of Llanwit Major founded by Saint Iltud, but now, with his mother and several fellow monks, he braved the seas and settled in Brittany at a point where the rivers Guidy, Jaudy and their estuary joined and eventually and in around 532, founded a monastery there which he called "Landreguer" ("the monastery of three rivers") and around this monastery and the village of Minihy grew what was to eventually be the town of Tréguier. Tugdual was made a bishop by the Breton king, King Childebert and from the Landreguer monastery emerged a cathedral dedicated to Saint André (Andrew).
The Norman invasions of the 9th century saw Tréguier and the cathedral ravaged so much that the then bishop, Monseigneur Gorennan, fled and had Tugdual's body moved to Chartres. There was no bishop in residence for 90 years, but finally, the invaders were forced out by Alan II, Duke of Brittany
The bishopric of Tréguier was created in 950 but the first bishops had to be content with a cathedral made from wood until in around 970 Bishop Gratias encouraged the building of a new cathedral in the Romanesque style. Of this building all that is left today is the north transept tower known as the "Hastings" tower, named rather strangely after one of the leaders of the Norman invaders, and some of the internal columns or pillars.
It was in 1339 that construction of the Gothic cathedral was started, this during the bishopric of Richard de Poirier. Work commenced with the West Porch but only two years later the War of Breton Succession forced further building to be halted. Brittany was to be exhausted and ruined by this war, fought between the de Blois and de Monfort families, the former assisted by the French and the latter by the English. In 1345, the English invaded the area and used the cathedral as part of their garrison destroying much of the building in the process save for the tomb of Saint Yves which they left untouched. The Treaty of Guérande finally brought the fighting to a halt and this allowed the building work to be restarted, firstly from 1363 to 1371 during the bishopric of Bishop Begaignon when the nave and side-aisles were completed as well as the "porche du Peuple" and then during the bishopric of Bishop Morelli between 1385 and 1400. Morelli's coat of arms can be seen in the vaulting keystone of the second choir crossing.
In around 1432, the south porch was completed under Bishop Pierre Pédru and Bishop Jean de Ploeuc had frescoes and stained glass windows added to the cathedral although the windows were removed during the revolution.
In 1420, Duke Jean V had a chapel created so that he could be buried alongside Saint-Yves, the end of the 15th century saw the building of the cloisters, 1515 saw the construction of the choir's flying buttresses, and in 1648 the stalls which dated back to 1509 were restored.
Between 1785 and 1787, a stone spire replaced the existing lead-covered spire, partly financed by a generous loan from Louis XVI. Bishop Augustin Le Mintier instigated this, and the plans and services were used of the civil engineer François Anfray.
In 1793 the cathedral was sacked by a battalion of revolutionaries but in 1801 and after the Concordat it returned to being a place of worship. The cathedral was restored and Prosper Mérimée took an active part in the cathedral's restitution in his role as "Inspecteur Général des monuments historiques".
In 1860 houses and shops around the cathedral were cleared to create space and allow the cathedral to be seen without obstruction, the cloisters were restored in 1910 and in 1946 the building was given the status of a "Basilique Mineure".
General description The building takes the shape of a Latin cross with a length of 75 metres and a width of 17.45 metres. The length of the transept is 40 metres, the arms of the transept 7 metres and the height of the internal vaulting 18 metres.
The vaulted nave has seven crossings, and the sides comprise three levels starting with grand arcades, then a triforium and finally high windows. Such an elevation is very much a gothic convention mostly inspired by Chartres. The nave crossings vary in length and the columns are not uniform, no doubt explained by the fact that the columns of the first three crossings date to the beginning of the 14th century whilst the other four columns were erected in the second half of the 14th century.
Towers The cathedral has three towers, and the best view of these is from the nearby Hôtel de Ville. The first of these is a Roman tower which dates back to the 12th century and is all that is left of the Romanesque style building. It is called the "Tour Hastings". The tower has three stories, the upper story having two semicircular windows on each face. The lower story has a single bay on three of its faces. A stairway goes up to the north-east turret. The next tower is over the cathedral sacristy and is called the "Tour du Sanctus", probably because the "Sanctus" was rung from here announcing a mass. The pointed roof of the "Tour du Sanctus" is surrounded by an ornate balustrade. The final and third tower is called the "Tour Neuve" and from this the cathedral spire rises, having been erected in 1787 to replace a bell-tower made from lead. From the same standpoint of the Hôtel de Ville, one can see Francis Renaud's monument aux morts depicting a Trėguier woman grieving over the death of a loved one, a most poignant work.
The cathedral possesses a splendid cloister which has 48 flamboyant Gothic style arcades in total and is located on the northeast of the building in the angle formed by the choir and the north arm of the transept, It was constructed in 1460, consecrated in 1468 and offers a good view of the cathedral's three towers.
The cathedral exterior Seen from the place du Martray, the nave part of the cathedral's exterior displays massive buttresses and large flying buttresses. The central buttresses of the choir have pilasters some having 4 statues at their base depicting Breton saints and legendary figures. Here are some images of the cathedral exterior.
Porches The cathedral has three porches. That on the western side is the "porche des lépreux". Originally this would have served as an entrance for lepers. From this porch the building is accessed by two doors with the trumeau being a 15th-century sculpture of the Virgin Mary. The left side door's tympanum contains the coat of arms of the Kermartins of which family Saint-Yves was a member. The other two porches are on the cathedral's south facing side. The "porche des cloches" opens up from the south transept and the "porche du peuple" is in the centre of the south façade of the nave. The "Le porche du peuple" also has double doors leading into the cathedral. The porch entrance has a magnificent tympanum. The "porches des Cloches" is the main entrance to the building and here the trumeau is a statue of Notre Dame de la Clarté. Above the porch is a large window. The keystone in the porch vaulting bears the coat of arms of Bishop Pierre Piedru and the date 1434.
The cathedral interior
The nave The walls of the nave follow Gothic convention and are made up of three distinct levels. At ground level are grand arcades and above these are the triforium and finally above this high windows or Clerestory. The Tréguier nave has seven crossings and is flanked by two collateral aisles. A sculpted frieze runs under the triforium. At the top of the nave's pillars are various carvings; people at prayer and a selection of grotesques. The nave pillars vary in thickness and at the junction of the nave and the transept the pillars are made up of several smaller columns ("Faisceau de colonnes").
In the aisles to the left and right of the nave there are many enfeus or walled-up tombs of knights and clerics all sadly mutilated during the French revolution. One such tomb is that of Jehan de Lantillac dating to 1461. There are several statues decorating the nave; a wood carving of Sainte Barbara, statues of Saints Paul and Peter which came from the Chapelle Saint-Yves at Plesidy and a depiction of Christ tied against a column.
At the top of each pillar in the cathedral nave are carvings of the heads of animals, grotesques or people.
The choir
This area of the cathedral dates from the end of the 14th century to the beginning of the 15th century. It is a little larger than the nave and again has arcades, with a balustraded triforium above and windows higher up. The choir vaulting is decorated with 15th-century paintings of angels holding banners inscribed with liturgical texts.; "Glora laus et honor tibi sit", "Gratias agamus", "Cantate Domino", etc. At the entrance to the choir there are two statues, one of Saint Tugdual and the other of Saint Yves.
Depictions of Saint Yves.
Wood carving of John of Patmos and a statue of Saint Yves Around the area of the "Tour des Cloches" is a wooden carved panel showing John of Patmos writing the apocalyptic Book of Revelation. There is also a copy of a Murillo painting of Jesus and John the Baptist and a statue depicting Saint Yves between a poor and a rich man.
The Gallery organ and organ casing
The gallery organ and casing dates to the 17th century and is placed before the great west window. It came to the cathedral from the cistercian abbey at Bégard being purchased for the cathedral by the Tréguier curate Durand. The instrument was built between 1647 and 1649 by Pierre Thuau who was a pupil of Paul Maillard. It was restored by Herland between 1835 and 1837. Herland came from Guerlesquin. In 1937 a major refit was organised by Roethingers of Strasbourg. The wooden casing itself is thought to be by H. Vaignon from Normandy.
Portraits of previous bishops
On the cathedral wall under the Hastings tower are oil paintings of the 14 Tréguier bishops from 1587 to 1801 when the Tréguier bishopric was merged with that of Saint Brieuc.
The bishops are:—
Augustin René Louis le Mintier. Bishop of Tréguier from 1780 to 1801. Jean-Baptiste Joseph de Lubersac. Bishop of Tréguier from 1775 to 1780. Jean Marc de Royere. Bishop of Tréguier from 1767 to 1772. Joseph de Cheylus, Bishop of Tréguier from 1762 to 1766. Charles le Borgne de Kermorvan. Bishop of Tréguier from 1745 to 1762. François Hyacinthe de la Fruglais de Kerver. Bishop of Tréguier from 1731 to 1745. Olivier Jegou de Kervilio. Bishop of Tréguier from 1694 to 1731. Eustache le sénéchal de Carcado. Bishop of Tréguier from 1686 to 1694. François de Baglion de Salliant. Bishop of Tréguier from 1679 to 1686. Balthazar Grangier. Bishop of Tréguier from 1646 to 1679. Noël Deslandes. Bishop of Tréguier from 1635 to 1645. Guy Champion de Cicé de la Chaise, Bishop of Tréguier from 1620 to 1635. Pierre Cornulier. Bishop of Tréguier from 1613 to 1619. Guillaume du Halgouet de Kergrese. Bishop of Tréguier from 1587 to 1602.
Stalls