Friday 13 February 2009

Cathédrale Saint Louis

Oops! Yesterday I showed you a detail of the inside of Saint Louis Cathedral, but I forgot that you may not yet know the façade. So, before we go inside again, here it is. It is dedicated to king Louis the 9th better known since his canonization as Saint Louis of France, who died in Tunisia in 1270 on his way home from the 8th Crusade. Incidentally, quite a few towns around the world gained their name from him, including it seems Saint Louis, Missouri. You can read about the history of the cathedral, which was inaugurated first as a church quite recently in 1754, then as a cathedral in 1797 by clicking here.
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Hier, je vous ai montré un détail de l'intérieur de la cathédrale, mais vous n'en connaissez peut-être pas la façade, que voici donc en attendant d'y entrer à nouveau. La cathédrale est dédiée à Louis IX ou Saint Louis, mort en Tunisie en 1270 sur le chemin du retour de la huitième croisade. Il semblerait qu'un certain nombre de villes dans le Nouveau Monde aient été nommées après ce "bon roi", dont Saint Louis dans le Missouri. Pour ceux qui voudraient en savoir plus sur l'histoire de la cathédrale, qui fut inaugurée en 1754 en tant qu'église puis cathédrale en 1797, c'est par ici.

8 comments:

Frankie / Nick said...

Oh the architecture of the Cathedral is nothing short of awesome. Such a marvelous structure so well maintained

crocrodyl said...

Great architecture! Nice shot! It is nice to see something connected with this king:) (I have read the book about him recently:)

Clueless in Boston said...

What a beautiful cathedral. It doesn't look as massive as other cathedrals, it seems to be sized on a more human scale. I also like the gold(?) detailing on the doors and the cross on the top. Have a good weekend.

Lowell said...

I think France has the most beautiful churches...and this is another example. Good shot.

EG CameraGirl said...

A beautiful cathedral!

Petrea Burchard said...

Is this church quite close to the Versailles palace itself? I believe my husband and I happened upon it when we were strolling through the town. There was a wedding going on. Just lovely.

cieldequimper said...

@Petrea: depends what you call close! Taking the shortcuts it would take about 10 minutes, though probably not strolling!

abc said...

It's a wonderful building and a good shot of it.