Cathédrale de Saint-Die (Vosges) - Petite Nef, Côté Épître

            The Postcard

A postally unused carte postale bearing no publisher's name. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card has a divided back.

Saint-Dié Cathedral

Saint-Dié Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Dié de Saint-Dié-des-Vosges) is a Roman Catholic church and Monument Historique of France, located in the town of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in Lorraine.

The cathedral, formerly a collegiate church, is dedicated to Saint Deodatus of Nevers. Since 1777 it has been the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Dié.

The cathedral, like most of the town, is built largely of the local red sandstone. It has a Romanesque nave (12th. century) and a Gothic choir; the portal of red stone dates from the 18th. century. 

A fine cloister (13th. century), containing a stone pulpit, communicates with the Petite-Église or Notre-Dame de Galilée, a well-preserved specimen of Romanesque architecture (12th. century).

The classical façade of Giovanni Betto dates from 1711-1714.

Saint Deodatus of Nevers, the eponymous Saint Dié, founded a monastery here in the 7th. century and gave up his episcopal functions to retire to this place.

In the 10th. century the community became a chapter of canons. Among those who subsequently held the rank of provost or dean were Giovanni de Medici, afterwards Pope Leo X, and several princes of the ducal House of Lorraine. Among the extensive privileges enjoyed by them was that of coining money.

Though they co-operated in building the town walls, the canons and the dukes of Lorraine soon became rivals for authority over the town of Saint-Dié, where towards the end of the 15th. century one of the earliest printing presses of Lorraine was founded. 

The institution of a town council in 1628, and the establishment in 1777 of the bishopric which appropriated part of their spiritual jurisdiction, contributed greatly in reducing the influence of the canons; and with the French Revolution they were completely swept away. Their church remains as the cathedral.

The Cathedral in WWII

The Cathedral of Saint-Dié suffered serious damage during the Second World War, and was partially destroyed during the night of the 16th./17th. November 1944.

The choir, apse, sacristy, transept, chapels, and nave were badly damaged; the vaults collapsed (only the first double arch of the nave remains), the Cathedral walls were dislocated, cracked, and crushed. 

The first two southern flying buttresses were torn off by one of the explosions and completely destroyed.

The demolished parts of the cathedral were rebuilt between 1955 and 1957 by Texier, Chief Architect of Historical Monuments conforming to the original design. The roofs of the low terraces of the North and South towers were rebuilt in concrete.

However the sealing of the two sunken roof decks never worked properly. Stagnating pools of rainwater and recurrent overflows have caused progressive deterioration of the building's structure. 

It is therefore currently (2022) proposed that new copper roofs should be installed which would allow direct and rapid evacuation of rainwater to the outside of the building. 

More care will also be taken in the future to remove leaves and other debris to avoid stormwater passages becoming clogged.

Taken on: October 1, 2022

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