Cambrai, religious metropolis

Depart from the town of Cambrai, latitude 50.1721900 (N 50° 10’ 20”), longitude 3.2323300 (E 3° 13’ 56”)

• The cathedral, former abbey of the Holy Sepulcher

• The church and the guest house, which houses the Post Office since 1916, belonged to the Abbey of the Holy Sepulcher, founded in the eleventh century. Between 1696 and 1702, under the episcopate of Fenelon, the whole is rebuilt in the classical style advocated by Louis XIV. The sober decor contrasts with the exuberant Baroque façade of the Jesuit chapel facing it. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is designated as a new cathedral by Bishop Louis Belmas in 1804 after the destruction of the Gothic cathedral under the Revolution.

• The chapel Vaucelette

• The Cistercian monks of the abbey of Vaucelles, located 15 kilometers from Cambrai, have a shelter in the city center, intended to shelter the community in times of unrest. The Gothic chapel, built in the 13th century occupies the first floor. It is very restored in the 19th century by the architect Henri de Baralle but remains one of the last examples of religious architecture preserved at Cambrai.

• Jean Moulin Square

• From the nineteenth century to the Revolution stands the Church of St. Croix, one of the parishes of Cambrai. Facing him Saint-Julien Hospital, founded in the 11th century. From this large complex remains the chapel Saint-Julien, built between 1732 and 1734 whose portal, rue du Temple, is particularly neat. On the site of a second chapel of the sixteenth century, destroyed by a fire in 1917, the architect Pierre Leprince-Ringuet made a concert hall in 1924, subject to major rehabilitation from 1999 to 2003. On the square built in 1874 one of the rare commemorative monuments of the war of 1870-1871, sculpted by Ernest Hiolle.

• Themis Lodge

• This building marks the southern end of the vast complex of buildings that the bishop has until the Revolution for the administration of his diocese. It is then the "turn of the chapter", that is to say the prison. At the first level, the stone walls are more than one meter thick. The upper part is modified in the 18th century. Season then sold during the Revolution, it houses the Masonic Lodge Themis since 1802.

• Cathedral Quarter

• When in the 6th century Cambrai became bishopric headquarters, a first cathedral was built in the old Gallo-Roman castrum. It gives way between 1161 and 1251 to a new construction of Gothic style, 130 meters long. Its bell tower, raised in the 14th century and crowned by a perforated spire is nicknamed "wonder of the Netherlands". The interior decor of the church is enriched over the centuries with many works of art, some of which are kept in the museum. This immense group composed of the cathedral and the bishop's palace was seized during the Revolution, resold and used as a quarry of stones. Only the tower of the chapter and the entrance of the archiepiscopal palace remain, current portal of the sub-prefecture. Built in 1620, under Bishop Vanderburch's episcopate, it is decorated with sculptures by Jaspar Marsy.

• Church Saint-Géry

• Founded in the 6th century, it is the oldest church in the city. It becomes abbey church in the eleventh century. Rebuilt between 1697 and 1745, it illustrates two architectural traditions: the baroque of the Netherlands and French classicism. At the crossroads of the transept stands a blue stone canopy, without equivalent. Its function as a warehouse of property confiscated from the clergy during the revolution saves it from destruction. The church is home to many works of art, including Rubens' Entombment (1616) and Jaspar Marsy's (1635) rood screen, now transformed into an organ gallery.

• Rue des Anglaises and rue des Capucins

• The names of the streets in this neighborhood bear witness to its religious past. The city counts, besides the nine parish churches, about twenty religious communities. During the Revolution, orders are banned and their property confiscated, most buildings disappear from the urban landscape. Thus, the Saint-Vaast street and the Saint-Géry bell-tower street recall the presence of the two parish churches of the district, the new Capuchin street was pierced in 1830 on the site of the garden of the Capuchin convent, the street of the English evokes the English Benedictine community settled between numbers 17 and 27.

• Saint-Vaast and Saint-Nicolas Béguinages

• They house a community of pious, widowed or single women, leading a life of charity and devotion, according to the vocation of these widespread institutions of Artois in the Netherlands. Founded in the 14th century and transferred there in 1545, the Saint-Vaast beguinage is the last example of a Beguine court in France. It consists of small, one-span, one-level brick-lined brick houses with a tiled roof, surrounding a garden and a common room.

• Vanderburch Foundation

In 1626, Monseigneur Vanderburch, archbishop of Cambrai, founded the house Sainte-Agnès, intended for the education of the poor girls of Cambrai and Cateau-Cambrésis. Burned in 1918 and 1986, the building retains its original gate, carved by Jaspar Marsy. Hailed by Doric columns engaged bossage, it is surmounted by a pediment in hug with the arms of the founder.

• Belfry

• Old bell tower of the Saint-Martin church, it has vocation of belfry since 1550. This function saves it of the destruction of the whole of the church during the Revolution. Built in the 15th century, it is then covered with an amazing torso arrow, replaced in the 18th century by an additional level and a lantern. The four sculptures evoking the Cambrésian history are made by Marcel Gaumont after the First World War.