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Key Image Cathédrale Saint-Étienne
Place d'Armes
57000 Metz
France
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Congregation: Cathédrale Saint-Étienne (Diocèse de Metz)
Geogr. Coordinates: 49.12031° N, 6.17581° E
Geo Location
Reference year: 1237
Architectural style: Gothic
Building type: Basilica
Description: Gothic basilica with transept, choir with ambulatory and towers on both sides of the nave
Name derivation: From St Stephen
Noteworthy
  • Portal of the Virgin at the south side (c. 1260)
  • West portal in the Gothic Revival style (1903)
Organ
  • Renaissance organ, originally built in 1537 by Jean de Trèves (Johann von Promsfeldt), reconstructed in 1936 by Frédéric Haerpfer and again in 1980 by Marc Garnier; 10 stops, two manuals and pedal
  • Main organ built in 1970 by Haerpfer & Erman using parts of an earlier organ by Cavaillé-Coll and Verschneider; 27 stops, two manuals and pedal
  • Choir organ built in 1980 by Haerpfer & Erman using those parts of the earlier organ not needed for the construction of the main organ; 30 stops, two manuals and pedal
Windows
  • Small stained glass windows dating from the 13th cent. in the south transept
  • West window and rose (Hermann of Münster, 1384)
  • Stained glass windows by Theobald of Lixheim (1504) im nördlichen Querhaus
  • Stained glass windows by Valentin Bousch (1521–27) in the south transept
  • Modern stained glass windows by Jacques Villon (1956–57), Roger Bissière (1960) and from designs by Marc Chagall (1959)
History:
3th cent.:   Metz becomes seat of a bishop, a first shrine dedicated to St Stephen is built (“oratorium beati Stephani”, recorded for the year 451)
Late 10th cent.:   Reconstruction of the shrine as a basilica by bishop Dietrich I.
1040:   Consecration of the Ottonian basilica
About 1237:   Construction of the Gothic cathedral starts
1380:   Completion of the first building period by construction of the nave vaults and the towers up to a height of 45 m, keeping the Ottionian transept and choir
1486:   Second building period starts with the demolition of the Ottonian transept and later of the choir
11/04/1552:   Consecration of the Gothic basilica
1764:   Addition of a neoclassical encasement in the course of the construction of the Place d’Armes
07/05/1877:   Roof fire after fireworks to the honour of Emperor William I
1903:   Completion of a 25-year restoration period aiming at “reinstating” the Gothic architecture (architect Paul Otto Karl Tornow)
Important persons:
Orgelbauer:  Cavaillé-Coll, Aristide (1811–1899, französischer Orgelbauer, Akustiker, Wissenschaftler und Erfinder)
Patron:  Stephen (1–36/40, martyr, first deacon of the Christian congregation in Jerusalem)
Dimensions:
Width [m]:  46.8
Length [m]:  136
Nave Height [m]:  41
Tower Height [m]:  90
Sources
Wikipedia: Kathedrale von Metz, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale_von_Metz, retrieved 28/08/2019
Wikipedia: Metz Cathedral, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metz_Cathedral, retrieved 31/08/2019
Wikipédia: Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathédrale_Saint-Étienne_de_Metz#La_cathédrale_gothique_(XIIIe_–_XVIe_siècles), retrieved 28/08/2019
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