Montauban Cathedral, Catholic cathedral in Montauban, France.
Montauban Cathedral is a classical religious building in the city of Montauban with two symmetrical towers on its western facade. The structure stands out through white stone and four evangelist statues positioned at an elevated location in the city center.
Montauban's first cathedral, Saint-Théodard, was destroyed around 1562 when the city turned Protestant. After the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV ordered a new cathedral to assert royal and Catholic power; the first stone was laid on 10 April 1692. François II d'Orbay designed it, and after his death in 1697 Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte continued the work. In 1707 six brick nave pillars collapsed, bringing down part of the vault; the cathedral was consecrated on 1 November 1739.
The walnut organ on the counter-façade, carved in 1675, came from the church of Saint-Jacques; it has four keyboards, a pedalboard and forty-five stops, and was restored in 1997. In the third chapel on the right hangs Jules Jolivet's painting of the Coronation of Saint Philomena, a patron of boatmen shown with an anchor.
The cathedral stands at the highest point of the old town, at 102.65 m, reached on foot from the centre. It has been closed to the public since 25 November 2020 because of cracks and widening fissures, so check before setting out; the west facade and its towers can still be seen from the square.
The cathedral's central portal is claimed to be the tallest in Europe, higher even than the one at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, though the claim lacks a cited source. The walnut organ on the counter-façade, carved in 1675, came from the church of Saint-Jacques and has four keyboards, a pedalboard and forty-five stops; it was restored in 1997.
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