Coutances Things to Do

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The interior of the Coutances cathedral consists of a nave with two aisles and a transept. The windows in the transept were restored after WWII. Worth remarking among them are a 13th-century window depicting three martyrs and another with the Last Judgement dating of 16th century (unfortunately, my dad didn't took a pic of them, and he only had a normal camera with slides, he still hadn't got a digital camera!).

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The Gothic Cathedral was built between 1251 and 1274 over the remains of a Romanesque church destroyed in 1218. The façade shows two imposing towers, each of which has smaller pinnacles. Remark the typical "Norman tower" in the middle, where the transept crosses the nave. The style of the apsis is a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic elements.

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When the chancel of a church is elaborated so that the apse contains many projecting chapels, usually preceded internally by one or more ambulatories, so that it presents a rounded and shapely exterior, the French call it a "chevet". This prominence of the East end had its roots in pilgrimage churches when praying and visiting relics was a major component of 11C "tourism". By the 13C, the beauty achieved and the endowment of chapels was the money source. At Coutances the chevet has very shallow chapels, but the desire for beauty survives. Outside the cascading rhythm from the crossing tower downward is still evident. Inside, the double ambulatory is carefully articulated and screened by a blind triforium; its gracefulness has been much applauded. A century later an elongation was made of the axial chapel.

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The Cathedral is moderately large, 93m long and 23m high with sturdy wide-arched arcades. The traceried aisle windows are tall and wide as well and require minimal buttressing. The support ribbings of the vault run unimpeded along the columns all the way to the ground enhancing the feeling of height. There is a triforium with a balustrade but only modest clerestory windows. The 17C organ case at the west end has a carved case with caryatids.

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The Early Gothic cathedral at Coutances is one of our favorite churches. We prefer the late Romanesque which this one was before it was destroyed in the early 13C. It was rebuilt (1235-50) as Chartres was being finished. The West Facade is illustrative of what we like best here. It was built with two identical towers rebuilt on the original sturdy Romanesque bases, now with slightly pointed openings. Unlike almost all of the churches for a hundred miles around these towers are capped by stone spires (fleches). Not only that, but the spires are encased in small turrets which hide the buttresses that are needed in the conversion from square tower below to octagon spire above. Further keeping the Norman Romanesque tradition, the towers still are joined by a balustrade, only now the new vaulted nave is hidden by a large traceried central window instead of a rose. The South Tower no longer is completely identical to its Northern companion because of the way it had to be restored after the WWII bomb damage.

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When Sebastien le Pretre de Vauban (1633-1707), the great military architect visited Notre Dame, he ordered that a blanket be placed under the crossing and that he not be disturbed. He spread out under the tower and studied the sight for an hour, proclaiming finally that it was a structure "launched by a sublime madman". Many others agree to its refinement. (The view is seen better in the picture that heads our Coutance Introduction). It is reproduced in every picture guidebook and architecture compendium. In making our shot we followed Vauban's hint and centered our wide-angle camera on the ground equipped with a long cable shutter release, kept people away and made the shot. The dome outside is flattened and has only a gilded rooster on top. Otherwise the tower converts to an octagon to receive a spire. It is supported by massive crossing piers tat were in the original church. The transepts harmonize with the nave and are restrained with sets of lancet windows at the ends containing 13 or 14C stained glass, with no transept doors or porches.

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The cathedral in Coutances is quite spectacular. You can't help but notice it at the top of the hill, towering over the town.

It is a 13th century Gothic cathedral, with soaring towers and beautiful arches.

Inside is some beautiful stained glass, set off by the bright interior, and a series of arches that make the cathedral seem even taller than it is.

Well worth a look if you are in the area.

Admission is free. Open from 8am - 7pm daily.

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There is a nice garden close to the cathedral. Look at the beautiful flowers and the artistic flowerbeds. The French are specialists in arranging gardens.