The Cathedral of Meaux.

Introduction

It was necessary a long time so that the beauty of the Cathedral of Meaux appears in all its truth with those which make of a voyage in Island of France a cultural pilgrimage.

From time immemorial, this monument deserved that one contemplated it like one of the Gothic wonders of our area: this style " which dematerializes the stone with the profit of a purely spiritual expression " as said Woringer, this upheaval mixes the stable one and the air one dominates the town of Meaux and its majestic flights, than one discovers as of the arrival in the city, than they are heights of Crégy-the-Meaux, Roadway of Paris (R Main road 3) or even of Côteaux of Justice while arriving from Paris by the motorway (A190).

Exterior

Like the majority of the churches of the Middle Ages, the cathedral of Meaux is directed in the East. Its plan is regular, including/understanding a nave, a transept and a chorus, the nave being skirted on both sides, by a double side, with a frontage with two turns, only that of North is finished. This frontage is preceded by a square, raised several steps builds into 1610 and restored in 1816.

Photograph of the frontage of the cathedrale in progress bus in refection

This principal frontage presents three gates decorated with sculptures to the tympanums: on the right, the gate of the virgin under unfinished the tower known as " black tower " represents the life of Marie; the central tympanum with three registers of the Last Judgement where one sees in bottom in the center the resurrection of the bodies dirigeanr worms of the small boxes, the others drawn or thorough towards the hell illustrated by the open mouth of the léviathan which swallows damnés.

The tympanums of left under the large tower of north completed, represents the life of Saint-Jean-Baptiste with to the regist the higher Mystical Lamb, with the intermediate register in departure of the left the birth of Saint-Jean with to the bedhead of the parturient a character registering on a shelf the name of the child, with the lower register one will notice particularly on the basis of the left, Saint-Jean-Baptiste drawn from his prison, killed, its head being related to a plate with Salome with Hérode which waits.

While circumventing this frontage by the line we arrive at the Southern gate called gate of the lions because of the heads still called gate of the Drapers by far that one sees with the junction of the gables, or well, because it skirted the old street to the drapers or because this corporation had made the expenses partly of them.

The tympanum represents in its three registers the life of Saint-Etienne, owner of the Cathedral. We continue to skirt the monument towards the apse and by circumventing the latter, between the third absidiole and the fourth, with a 14 meters height, an archer sculté by an artist avenger, seems to aim at the window of a canon whose house was other side of the street, canon treasurer which paid his workmen badly, selons the oral tradition of our city.

While circumventing the monument, we enter the court of the Episcopal Palate while passing under a covered bridge connecting the Cathedral to the Old Chapter and we arrive at theSaint-Etienne gate. The pier kept its statue which represents Saint-Etienne, it is a sculpture in re-employment showing the style of the first years of XIIIeme century.

The tympanum is composed of two parts of which scenes of the life and death of of the same Saint-Etienne antiquated style as Saint-Etienne of the pier. Many statues outside the Cathedral are broken, and before visiting the interior, it should be announced that in fact the exactions of the revolution are responsible for these degradations, but the result of the wars of religion, particularly violent in Meaux in XVIeme century.

Interior

The cathedral of Meaux, such as it is presented today was built between XIIème and XVIème century, rather long period which could harm its architectural unit contrary in Chartres, for example, which was built in a few decades.

The cathedral of Meaux carries the prints of almost all the phases that the evolution of the Gothic style traversed, " of a monument where the various styles are superimposed, mix, imbricate themselves, while provocant nevertheless at the visitor an impression of apparent unit " wrote Peter Kurmann in connection with the cathedral of Meaux.

It is necessary to be placed under the organ case, to have an overall picture of architectural elegance. One can, like certain specialists in the history of art, to regret an excessive height of the sides compared to the height of the nave, but what imports, let us admire the exceptional harmony of the monument compared to Our Lady of Paris.

By taking the low side of right-hand side, we see there leaned with a pillar a white marble statue of most famous of évèques of Meaux: Bossuet. Under Louis XVIII in 1818, a meldois project, the first statue of sitted Bossuet sees the day, rules inaugurated in 1822 and due to the chisel of Ruxtheil. The statue was to be placed at the origin in the chorus of the cathedral on the tomb of Bossuet and the tended arm was to show the Master-hotel of it.

A little further on the line in the vault Jean Rose, you will be able to admire the tombstone of this black marble last with white marble inscrustations (XIVème century). Jean Rose and her wife, benefactors of Meaux in the middle of the 14th century, founders of a hospital in this city street St Remy.

Opposite this vault, in the nave, the extremely simple pulpit, remade partly with the panels of that of Bossuet is placed. At the bottom of the nave, the platform of the organ whose very beautiful dresser was built into 1627 by Valéran de Héman. On left and on the right: two beautiful side walls of the transepts of an aspect much richer than outsides. With the transept crossing, the cathedral rises with 31 meters 50 with the top of the pavement.


The chorus of St-Etienne of Meaux was set up by two successive Masters at the end of XIIème century and the beginning of XIIIème century for the second. The first Master builds rez-of-chausée until the height of the departure of the low vaults, of which it remains little of traces in the monument of today, the second Master built the remainder which we can still see places from there today, the splendid triforium, high windows, the stained glass which occupies the central high window of the apse, represent the crucifixion and St Denis.

The stained glass is datable of XIVème siècle.Les stalls of the chorus were made into 1610 to replace those which Huguenots had broken into 1562 and the Master-furnace bridge of the sanctuary was placed in 1724 per Monseigneur of BISSY, a beautiful gilded copper medallion representing the martyrdom of St-Etienne. It was done in 1725 by Caignard, sculptor of king Louis XV. Taking on the right chorus one will be able to see through the grid, the tombstone on the level of the ground indicating the site of the burial of Bossuet.

On the wall which faces him, the commemorative plate of the English soldiers come to contribute to the delivery of the city in 1914-1918 and you meet from there, five radiating chapels dating from XIIème and XIVème centuries, they are dedicated has St Hackney carriage, Ste Genevieve, the Virgin, St Jean Evangéliste and St Jacques the Major one. After having made the turn of the chorus, we arrive at the Maugarni door, of the name of a criminal who was stopped on the threshold even this door and hung this place has. Concurrently to this door, " Ecce Homo ", interesting stone statue of XVIème century, having with its feet the giver of work.

Opposite white the marble statue Philippe de Castille, lord of Chenoise, knelt (1627).

With the top of the side furnace bridge near to the Maugarni door, a very beautiful table represents the death of St Eloi, work of Jean Senelle, Meldois painter which one can admire other splendid works with the Museum of Meaux.En continuing after the gate Saint Etienne we let us arrive at the side where is set up rules it of Bossuet carried out by Ernest Dubois and whose model was exposed to the World Fair of 1900 to the Large Palate in Paris and was finished and inaugurated in Meaux in 1911.

The statue represents Bossuet upright on a rather high pedestal with the bottom of which the artist grouped four historical figures: Turennes, converted by Bossuet, Miss de Lavallière, the dolphin of the king whose Bossuet was the tutor and Henriette of England for which Bossuet made the funeral oration.

This great man always invited to réflechir on vanities of the life and the relativity of the latter compared to the escape of time. He said to his place: " Ô God once again what of us? If I throw the sight in front of me, which appalling space where I am not any more, and that I occupy little place in this immense abyss of time. I am nothing; a so small interval is not able to distinguish me from nothing. One sent to me only to make a number, still had one only to make that me, and the part would not have been played of it when I would be remained behind the théatre... "

The large prelate disappeared for a long time, but its cathedral, immutable, is delivered always there in comparison with our visitors for their greater pleasure