Langres - Cathédrale Saint-Mammès

Langres is built on a promontory originally occupied by the Gauls and later by the Romans, who fortified the town and named it Andemantunum.

Langres was the center of a diocese already in the 4th century. Saint Didier de Langres was the 3rd bishop here. He got martyred, when the Vandals took the town in 407.

In medieval times the bishops were very powerful and so around 1140 it was decided to replace the old and small cathedral with a new one. At that time the cathedrals in Sens (200kms east) and Saint Denis (300kms northwest) were already under construction.

The erection began in the east with the choir, that was probably influenced by Cluny III. The cathedral was completed and dedicated in 1196. The nave, probably following the example of the cathedral in Sens, was done in an early Gothic style. The total (interior) length of the cathedral is more than 90 meters.

The cathedral has a large ambulatory. The entrance is guarded by a statue of Jeanne d'Arc.