The Isle river passing through the town of Périgueux, with the Cathedral Saint-Front de Périgueux on the left, Dordogne, France
Some background information:
The Cathedral Saint-Front de Périgueux is a Catholic church located in the town of Périgueux in the French department of Dordogne. A cathedral since 1669, it is dedicated to Saint Front, the legendary first bishop of Périgueux, who died around 100 AD. The cathedral is still the seat of the Bishop of Périgueux and Sarlat. Furthermore, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France" since 1998.
In honour of Saint Front, a first church was built on the spot of today’s cathedral in the 6th century. Subsequently, this church became a pilgrimage site. In the 11th century, an abbey was founded and soon its attending was recommended in the Book of Saint James to pilgrims on the Via Lemovicensis, one of the four Ways of St. James in France. In the 12th century, both abbey and old church were abandoned after a warlike assault. They were replaced by today’s cathedral, which was finished in 1170.
The cathedral was erected in a style that combines Romanesque with Byzantine elements. It has the shape of a isoceles Greek cross and was designed as a cross-in-square church. The cathedral was sheltered with five cupoloas, each with a diameter of 15 metres. Thus, in its roofing it resembles the St Mark's Basilica in Venice. Two funerary chapels are affiliated to the west wing, one dating back to the 9th century and the other one to the 13th century. In the 14th century, an outside staircase on the church’s east side was dismantled to make room for an apse in the Gothic style.
Between 1852 and 1895, the Cathedral Saint-Front was restored. Charged with this task was the architect Paul Abadie, who later planned the Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre in Paris in a similar style. He replaced the cupolas, which were in danger of collapsing, by larger cupolas and equipped them with solely decoative turrets. Nowadays, the Cathedral Saint-Front is a rather unusual religious building, which is comparable to only a few churches in the world.
Périgueux is a town in the French department of Dordogne in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. With its more than 29,500 residents, it is both the administrative centre and largest town of the department as well as the capital town of the historic Périgord region. The commune is situated on the Isle river, about 100 km (62 miles) to the southwest of the city of Limoges and about 135 km (84 miles) to the northeast of the city of Bordeaux.
In pre-Roman times Périgueux used to be a settlement of the Gallic Petrocorii tribe, but after Gaul had been conquered by the Romans, it became an important Roman country town with town walls and its own amphitheatre with almost 10,000 seats. The Romans named their town Vesunna. Not much is known about Vesunna’s fate during the Migration Period, but the town saw a boost, after the bones of Saint Front had been buried there around the year 900. The church that was erected in his honour soon became a much frequented pilgrimage site. Significant in this context was also the town’s location on one of the four Ways of St. James in France leading to Santiago de Compostela, the Via Lemovicensis.
In the 12th century, the old church and the abbey affiliated to it were abandoned and a much larger basilica was built. At that time, also town walls with 28 towers were built, which enclosed Puy-Saint-Front, the district to the west of the Isle river that was home to the basilica. Not until 1240, both settlements to the west and the east of the river merged to become the town of Périgueux. Instantly the new town became the capital of the countship of Périgord.
Subsequently Périgueux experienced its first heyday. The navigable Isle river was used for trade with the town’s vicinity and many goods were even transported to the sea port of Bordeaux. Furthermore, Périgueux became a garrsion town during the Hundred Years' War as the border between the French and the English territories ran just about 50 km (31 miles) to the south of the town.
In the 16th century, Périgueux experienced its second heyday. The transatlantic maritime trade flourished and the town developed into a trade centre for many goods that arrived in Bordeaux. Beyond that, also wines from the Bordeaux region and from the region around Périgueux were handled, which both already enjoyed a good reputation all over the world. At that time, many citizens of Périgueux were able to build great Renaissance town houses.
However, the following centuries saw a steady decline. The French Wars of Religion hit the town hard as the best merchants and craftsmen, who had joined Reformation, had to leave the country. Additionally, also the local nobility lost its political importance during the reign of King Louis XIV (the so-called "Sun King"). Finally, trade and military moved elsewhere.
In the second half of the 19th century, Périgueux was connnected with the new French railway network and one of country’s largest repair workshops was erected in the town. The town walls were dismantled, a boulevard was built instead and the Cathedral Saint-Front was restored. But unfortunately, this last heyday ended suddenly with the destruction of most local grape vines by phylloxera and several sales crises regarding agricultural products.
In the 20th century, the whole old town of Périgueux was made a national historic monument ("monument historique") and – as already mentioned – the cathedral became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France". Local viticulture only plays a minor role now, but the town is still the economic and cultural centre of the Périgord, a region which continues to be characterized by agri- and silviculture.