ST. STEPHEN'S CATHEDRAL
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Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Cahors with chapels, a Unesco World Heritage site, featuring modern stained glass windows in the nave
Listed as a Monument Historique, Saint-Etienne's Cathedral is one of the oldest in France, celebrating its 900th anniversary in 2019. Since this anniversary, it has been illuminated every evening by dazzling light shows. They reveal the grandeur of its architecture, blending Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine styles, and pay tribute to the builders who contributed to its construction. It is one of the few religious buildings in France to have two immense domes, each 16 m in diameter, culminating at 32 m high. Above all, Saint-Etienne de Cahors Cathedral is home to the Sainte-Coiffe, one of the cloths said to have been used when Christ was buried. As a result, it is well known to pilgrims, having been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 as part of the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago de Compostela. The famous mortuary relic can be viewed in the Saint-Gausbert chapel by prior arrangement, or during the Easter and Pentecost ostensions.
The high altar is the subject of many questions. Consecrated in 1119 by Pope Calixtus II, it was kidnapped by boat by the Viscount de Gourdon, one of the Huguenot leaders, in 1580, and is said to have sunk without ever being found!
In 2013, modern stained glass windows designed by artist Gérard Collin-Thiébaud and master glassworker Pierre-Alain Parot were installed in the nave. The organ, paintings and numerous chapels that surround it add to the majesty of the place. The unfinished cloister is a thing of beauty. Not to be missed.
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