Saint-Malo Cathedral, Romanesque cathedral in Saint-Malo, France
Saint-Malo Cathedral is a house of worship in the city center with mixed Romanesque and Gothic building elements. Its interior features a central nave, a crossing, and an altar decorated with bronze Evangelist symbols.
The original abbey was founded in 1108 and transformed into a cathedral in the 12th century, bringing the bishop's seat to the city. This change made it the religious center of the region.
The cathedral is one of the seven stages of the Tro Breizh, the Breton pilgrimage linking the towns of the seven founding saints of Brittany. Inside, a floor mosaic marks where Jacques Cartier knelt before leaving for Canada on 16 May 1535. The high altar, consecrated on 8 December 1991, is a bronze work by painter Arcabas and Étienne Pirot showing the four winged Evangelists as lion, ox, eagle and man.
The cathedral stands in the walled old town of Saint-Malo, in Ille-et-Vilaine, and is reached on foot through its narrow streets. The 77-metre spire, rebuilt after 1944, is a useful landmark for finding the building. Inside, the nave and transept crossing keep their 12th-century vaults, and the carved capitals sit high on the columns, hard to make out from floor level.
The 12th-century nave capitals are carved with grotesque figures, a mermaid, winged dragons and a monk parting foliage with his arms. Because they sit high on the columns, they are hard to make out from the floor. A floor mosaic marks where Jacques Cartier knelt before sailing for Canada on 16 May 1535.
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