Old Cambrai Cathedral

About

Notre Dame de Cambrai Cathedral was a Gothic cathedral located in Cambrai. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was destroyed during the French Revolution and today completely disappeared, as did its neighbour, the former Cathedral of Notre-Dame-en-Cité of Arras. Seat of an immense bishopric, this cathedral was known as the "wonderful of the Netherlands", mainly due to its high open-air arrow.

Origin: The Gothic cathedral was preceded by three or four churches built in the same place, in the western part of the present city, on a slope descending towards the Scheldt, at the location of the present Fenelon square. Reference is made to a Sainte-Marie church in Cambrai for the first time in 525. The building may have been made of wood, or installed in a pagan temple. This first building was destroyed in 881 by the Normans and it was Bishop Dodilon who had it rebuilt, the new building being consecrated in 890. The cathedral, which became old, was completely rebuilt in the 11th century, between 1023 and 1030, by the bishops Gérard I and Gérard II. A fire ravaged the monument from 1064 or 1068. The cathedral was again...