Cupola and organ in Cahors Cathedral

Cahors Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Cahors) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Cahors, Occitanie, France. A... more

by RicardMN Photography

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Cupola and organ in Cahors Cathedral

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RicardMN Photography

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Photograph

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Cahors Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Cahors) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Cahors, Occitanie, France. A national monument, it is an example of the transition between the late Romanesque and Gothic architectural traditions.

The church was built by bishop Gerard de Cardaillac in the 11th century, over a church erected in the 7th century by St. Didier of Cahors. It was consecrated by Pope Calixtus II on September 10, 1119, and completed around 1135. The church, located in the city's centre, has the sturdy appearance of a fortified edifice: at the time, the local bishops were in fact also powerful feudal lords in their role as counts and barons of Cahors.

The decoration and interior design were changed in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Counter-Reformation - the baroque altarpiece, the chapel organ, the tribune of the canons and the pulpit are the highlights.

In the 19th century the domes were cleared of plasterwork which obscured them from the outside while the choir was subject to a complete refurbishment in 1870 under the auspices of Bishop Grimardias.

The first organ on which there are documents is that built in 1712-1714 by organ builder Jean Baptiste Stoltz, a Parisian organbuilder, first established in Bordeaux and then in Toulouse. It was a four-key instrument on which there is no other information. It has remained the solid oak buffet, carved12. For the next hundred years, there is hardly any information. In 1838, a request for restoration is made, without continuation.

There was also, an airlock, entrance, in solid oak, west side, of the cathedral, under, the tribune of the great organ Jean Baptiste Stoltz, with, four doors, of access in the cathedral, of which, two padded , in green khaki lateral and two, in solid oak, in frontage.

The Édouard and Eugène Stoltz organ builders' house, founded in 1845 by Jean-Baptiste Stoltz, performed the instrumental part of the pre-Romantic organ in 1861-186313. In 1876 important works caused a dusting of the organ. It was "raised" in 1878 to clean it without modifications.

In 1984, the organ Jean Baptiste Stoltz had become unplayable; for, there had been before, proposals of raising; all were rebuffed; indeed, it had been two hundred years since the organ John Baptiste Stoltz had been built in 1712 by the Organ Factor of the same name.

Between 1939 and 1945 important work was done on the organ - electrification and reharmonisation by the Tristeille factor - but without modification of its piping. After the Second World War, there were requests for a lift but no action. In 1984 the organ became unusable.

Fourteenth-century frescoes, non-indexed by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Historical Monuments, were discovered during the dismantling of the organ. Hidden by the organ, as well as the western rose, the restoration of the organ of the service, cultural affairs and historical monuments had to take into account in order to highlight them. The organ was restored between 1984 and 1989 by the organ builder Gérald Guillemin14.

The organist Jean Baptiste Stoltz is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for the instrumental part and also for the buffet, in the pre-romantic style of the 17th and 18th century.

We can also admire, the masterpiece, the Organ Factor Nicolas Dupont, Organ Factor lorrain, the pre-romantic style, from 1763, the Notre Dame Cathedral of the Annecy, in Nancy, which is the authentic replica of the organ Jean Baptiste Stoltz, 1861 of the Saint Etienne cathedral, in Cahors. (Dexcription from Wikipedia)

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August 11th, 2018