Descriptif
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Opening days and hours Daily from 8:00 to 20:00 Rate Free Address Place Jean-Paul II F-59400 Cambrai Contact Cambrai’s tourist office Tip This monument should not be missed, especially for the sumptuous tomb sculpted by David Dangers, in which Fénelon – “Cambrai’s swan” – rests. |
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The church and the guesthouse, which has been housing the post office since 1911, belonged to the Saint-Sépulcre abbey, founded in the 11th century. From 1696 to 1702, during Fénelon’s time, the ensemble was rebuilt in the classic style advocated by Louis XIV and is especially homogeneous. The sober appearance of the decoration clashes with the opposing extravagant Baroque façade of the Jesuits chapel. In 1804, the Saint-Sépulcre church was named as new cathedral by bishop Louis Belmas, after the destruction of the Gothic cathedral during the French revolution. Destroyed by fire in 1859, it was restored by architect Henri de Baralle who added the steeple. Among the works of art housed in the church, you may admire the trompe-l’oeil paintings made in 1745 by painter Martin Geeraerts from Antwerp, as well as the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (Our-Lady-of-Grace) icons, ceded to Cambrai in 1492. |
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Erected between 1696 and 1702, the cathedral is a good example of the classical religious architecture at Louis XIV’s time. |
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