RUINS IN THE RUE CHÂTEL, SEEN FROM THE CATHEDRAL (1916).
THE CATHEDRAL (hist. mon.)
The Cathedral of Verdun, like that of Angers, was one of the first French churches to be dedicated to the Virgin. In the 7th or 8th centuries its patronal festival was The Nativity, but this was changed to The Assumption at the beginning of the 19th century.
It is an ancient edifice, but has often been restored and altered. The original 5th-century church, which it replaced, was built on the ruins of a Roman castrum, like those of Rheims, Metz and Trèves.
The Cathedral was consecrated in 1147 by Pope Eugenius III., assisted by eighteen cardinals and St. Bernard. The plans were made by the Rhenish architect Garin, and, contrarily to French practice, included two transepts and two apses. With its four similar spires, two on each choir, it looked, according to a popular saying, like a “bahut” (chest of drawers on legs), turned upside down.
The fire of 1755 caused important alterations to be made which, without suppressing the main lines of the Cathedral, disfigured the interior. These alterations explain the lack of harmony in the edifice.
The four Roman towers with spires disappeared after 1755. Only the two western towers were replaced by the present large ones.
The Cathedral did not greatly suffer from the bombardment of 1916, during the German offensive, but that of April–May, 1917, damaged it very seriously. The vaults were either pierced or brought down, and the roof destroyed. Near the apsis a big shell tore open the ground, bringing to light an unknown subterranean passage or crypt.