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A little history of Saint-Pierre cathedral in Rennes

The façade | Pymouss / CC-BY-SA
Cathedral Saint-Pierre cathedral in Rennes

The primitive cathedral

The first church dates back to the 5th century. Then they rebuilt it in 1180 and 1359. Charles de Blois brought here in 1362 saint Yves' relics and also raised a chapel dedicated to Breton saints Judicael, Donatien, Rogatien and Yves. But 2 centuries later, the church went to ruin...

The reconstruction

Anne of Brittany laid down the first stone of the brand new building in 1490. Anne became a duchess, here, in this cathedral, on February 10th 1489!

Well... wars of Religion were here: they stopped the building site. It started again in the 17th century... but they realized that the building was completely decrepit!

In 1700, this one went to ruin... King’s architect, the famous Gabriel, came in Rennes: they asked him to inspect St-Pierre. Gabriel said: “This church is completely unrepairable, owing to his general corruption and to bad materials it was made of."

So? Demolition! They only kept the portal and the two bell-towers. The building site began in 1787.

But... the Revolution came! Here we go again: the site stopped again. It was Napoleon I who completed the church in 1811, when he gave 500 000 francs. Thanks to him, St-Pierre was completed in 1844!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!