Paris1972-Versailles2003

Again, for the story, It took me a while , worse when you have family about an hour from the city. But often said, living and visiting are two different things . When in the area stay with family and this time again,however, did it in reverse order, when to see Lille and its sights, (stay tune for posts), and then went to see family. Therefore, let me tell you about the Cathedral Notre Dame de la Treille of Lille !!!, part II Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral, at Place Gilleson whose construction began in 1854, according to the grandiose project of a large neo-Gothic cathedral, to be completed in a much more modest way in 1999, almost 150 years later, Equipped with a 2,500 m2 crypt, it also hosts the contemporary sacred art center which presents works on the theme of the Passion. I have heard about it for a long time and finally here, it was inspiring a beautiful cathedral to come back again, eventually, The Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral of Lille in the department of Nord 59 in the Hauts-de-France region of my belle France. In neo-Gothic style, it is located in the Old Lille district, on the site of the old castle mound. Raised in honor of the Virgin Mary under the name of Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille, the name of a miraculous statue which is the object of devotion particular to Lille since the 13C.

The Choir has five straight bays and a five-sided apse. It is framed by an ambulatory which serves four radiating polygonal chapels and a deeper axial chapel. Two other rectangular side chapels are installed on either side, upstream of the polygonal chapels, The oldest part of the cathedral, the Choir has undergone several modifications. The sanctuary, placed at the crossing of the transept, is raised by five steps inscribed in the base of the pillars which delimit a space of 100 m2 covered with a marble carpet . An octagonal altar of gilded bronze decorated with red enamels, 1.5 meters in diameter,  The altar table, which rests on three columns, is made of pink Vosges granite, green Alpine marble and colored white stone. The bottom of the altar bears the carpenter’s tools in a first medallion and the attributes of royalty (the crown, the sword, the scepter and the rod of justice) in a second. The circular tabernacle bears three medallions illustrating the theological virtues (Faith, symbolized by the brazen serpent; Hope, symbolized by the anchor; Charity, symbolized by the pelican). On both sides, the daily life of the Holy Family and the death of Joseph are represented. The whole is surmounted by a Christ on the cross accompanied by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist.

Completed in 1908, the Chapel of Saint Joseph, patron saint of fathers and workers, is more particularly dedicated to him as patron of the universal Church according to the official declaration of Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1870. The iconographic treatment of this patronage, which combines spiritual and temporal dimensions, testifies to the ultramontanism and legitimism of its designers. It is surrounded by Saint Luke and Saint Matthew, the two evangelists who spoke of its mission, and Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Thérèse of ‘Avila, who developed his cult.

Completed in 1901, the chapel of Joan of Arc was built during the debates raised by her beatification process, when she had been declared venerable but had not yet been canonized. The chapel is dedicated to the “regeneration of France” and to the Work of the Military, founded in 1842 in Lille and presided over by the Count of Caulaincourt from 1851. The wall mosaics represent six figures of men on the left and six female figures on the right side. These are kings of France (Clovis, Charlemagne, Hugues Capet, Louis IX and Louis XVI) and queens or members of the royal family (Saint Aurélie, Blanche of Castile, Madame Élisabeth, Saint Clotilde and Hildegarde de Bingen). They are accompanied by the patron saints of the monarchy, Saint Martin and Saint Geneviève. The arcades, colored French blue, are decorated with emblems recalling the baptism of Clovis: the crozier of Saint Remi and the scepter of the King of the Franks. The tympanums of the arcades bear fifteen shields representing the ancient provinces of France. The Three windows tell the life of Joan of Arc: her mission on the left, her career on the right and her martyrdom in the center. On the tomb is a bronze bas-relief reproducing a painting by Ingres, The Vow of Louis XIII, which represents Louis XIII consecrating the kingdom of France to the Virgin in 1638. On the door of the tabernacle is represented the Good Shepherd in gilded bronze. The sword of honor which hangs on the base of the statue of Joan of Arc placed at the top of the altar was offered by French Catholics in 1907.

Also completed in 1901, the Chapel of Saint John the Evangelist is the “student chapel”, dedicated to knowledge and education. The red marble table of the altar covers the sarcophagus of Saint Plinia, a young martyr who is ignores everything except her age (18 years), translated from the catacombs of Rome to the diocese of Cambrai in 1847. The altarpiece represents Christ teaching at the three ages of life: primary education, where Jesus makes little children, secondary education, with Jesus among the teachers and, on the door of the tabernacle, higher education, where Jesus gives his apostles the mission to teach. The whole is topped by a statue of Saint John the Evangelist placed on a pedestal, behind the altar.

Completed in 1897, the Sainte Chapelle is inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It is closed by a wrought iron gate carrying scrolls of foliage which evoke the idea of the trellis. The central aisle is covered with a mosaic forming a carpet composed of four almond-shaped paintings which present the city of Lille in its different dimensions, “Catholic Lille”, represented by the bell towers of its churches, “Literary and scientific Lille”, symbolized by the buildings of the Catholic university, and “Industrial and commercial Lille”, evoked by its factories, on which radiates the monogram of Mary which extends over the whole. It is extended by a mosaic at the foot of the altar, where twenty-eight medallions on a blue background represent Creation: the four elements in the form of animals (dolphin, eagle, lion, salamander), the mineral kingdom (the Sun , the Moon, the stars, the Earth, metals, coral, rocks and crystals) and the animal kingdom (eight birds and eight quadrupeds taken from the medieval breviary).

Completed in 1904, the Chapel of Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary (grandmother of Jesus) ,and patron saint of carpenters and seamstresses, is dedicated to work and features Lille corporations and brotherhoods. It testifies to the attachment of a part of the Lille Catholic bourgeoisie to the corporate system as opposed to trade unionism which developed under the influence of socialist ideas. The altar, made of purple breccia with amber onyx columns, bears an enamel mosaic representing Noah’s ark. In the center, Saint Anne is surrounded by two scenes also in enamel mosaic. The first symbolizes the family, it represents Joachim and Anne leading their daughter Mary to the temple in Jerusalem; the second symbolizes work, it represents Joachim and Anne teaching their daughter to spin.

Completed in 1904, this chapel is dedicated to those who made Flanders great and first and foremost to Charles the Good, participant in the first crusade from 1096 to 1099, assassinated in 1127 and beatified in 1882. Like the Jeanne d ‘Arc, it expresses the people’s attachment to their princes and theirs to Catholicism, but this time at the regional level. Under the Villefranche marble altar, the reminder of the Crusades is represented by the Jerusalem cross and, above the altar, by the reliquary containing a bone of Saint Louis. At the four corners of its base, four legendary pilgrims of Notre-Dame de la Treille are represented: Saint Bernard, Saint Louis, Saint Vincent Ferrier and Saint Thomas of Canterbury. The altarpiece includes three silver bas-reliefs, each framed by two green onyx columns. They represent, in the center, the dedication of the city to the Virgin by Jean Le Vasseur in 1634 and, on either side, Marguerite of Constantinople offering to the Virgin the brief of her brotherhood and the first chapter of the order of the Golden Fleece held in Lille in 1431. Jean Le Vasseur is also represented on the wall mosaics among other illustrious figures, the “five main ruling houses” of Flanders (Baudouin V of Flanders, founder of Lille, Joan and Marguerite of Constantinople, Philip the Good, Charles V, the archdukes Albert and Isabella of Austria and Louis XIV), three founders of Lille hospitals, a cleric (Remy du Laury, provost of the chapter of Saint-Pierre) and a soldier (the Marshal Boufflers)

Completed in 1908, the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is dedicated, like the Saint-Joseph chapel, to the universal Church which reigns here over the world. Its decoration was carried out thanks to a subscription which brought together nearly 11,500 donors. It is she who contains the baptistery. The wall mosaic, mounted in a wooden frame, represents all races and all ages of life adoring Christ. The upper part of the panel bears a statue of Christ the King, surrounded on the right by two prophets, David and Isaiah, and on the left by two apostles, Saint John and Saint Paul, who wrote about the kingship of Christ. The lower frieze, designed in an indisputably colonial perspective, represents the “four great human races”, from left to right the black race, the white race, the red race and the yellow race, each at the four ages of life (childhood, adolescence , maturity, old age). They are surrounded by the vegetation with which each is associated (palm tree, olive tree, fern and sugar cane). The altar tomb is decorated with five cloisonné enamels representing the coat of arms of the apostleship of prayer framed by the four evangelists. The altarpiece bears two small medallions, one which represents Leo XIII consecrating the Church to the Sacred Heart in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome in 1899 and the other which represents Cardinal Richard accompanied by General Athanase de Charette de La Contrie consecrating France to the Sacred Heart in front of the basilica of Montmartre, erected in atonement for the sins of the Paris Commune. Each is framed by two deep-cut engravings evoking the life of Christ, the stable of Bethlehem and the grotto of the Agony on the left, the Resurrection and the Ascension on the right. The tabernacle, topped with a dome decorated with enamels, is surrounded by four angels who represent the four purposes of the mass (adoration, thanksgiving, obtaining forgiveness and obtaining graces).

The transept accommodates a chapel, the Chapel of Saint Pierre, which was to have a counterpart of a chapel of Saint Eubert in the south arm which was never installed. Completed in 1936, it traces the life of Saint Peter. They illustrate, on either side of the tabernacle, the successive denials of Peter and, on the tomb, the pope piloting the boat of the Church. On the tabernacle, the resurrected Christ forgives Peter his weakness. The ground bears the pontifical insignia, the tiara and the saltire keys, reminding us that this church, honored with the title of minor basilica, has the privilege of displaying the Vatican coat of arms.

The Choir organ, manufacture having fallen behind schedule, a provisional organ was delivered for the inauguration in June 1869, before being replaced a few months later by the organ which had been ordered. Which was inaugurated in October 1869. It was moved in 2007 during the installation of the large organ to be placed on a platform, in the north arm of the transept. The grandstand organ in 2006, the opportunity to buy the Grand Organ of studio 104 of the Maison de la Radio in Paris presented itself, on the occasion of the rehabilitation work on the Radio France building. In 2007, it was sold for a symbolic euro to the diocesan association of Lille. The organ was inaugurated in June 2008 but, a few months later, the Northern security commission noted weaknesses in the support system and ordered work of reinforcement. Added to this were problems of upgrading standards with a view to obtaining authorization to organize major concerts which were not resolved until the end of 2011. The neoclassical organ, weighing 41 tonnes, was built from 1957 to 1966, which makes it the fourth largest in France after the three great Parisian organs, in the following order, of Saint Eustache, Notre Dame and Saint Sulpice.

The official Cathedral Notre Dame de la Treille : https://cathedralelille.fr/

The Lille tourist office on the Cathedral : https://en.lilletourism.com/historic-sites-and-monuments-lille/cathedral-notre-dame-de-la-treille.html

There you go folks, a dandy city of the Nord that is North of France. I was finally back to Lille and it was great with many family memories flashing but glad I did it now. Again, hope you enjoy the post on Cathedral Notre Dame de la Treille of Lille , part II as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!