Rodez - Cathédrale Notre-Dame

With about 25,000 inhabitants, Rodez is today the economic and cultural center of the Aveyron department.

The city has a history spanning over 2,000 years and was known as Segodunum under the Romans. After the Romans, Rodez was occupied by the Visigoths, the Franks, the armies of the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Toulouse, and by the Moors, who besieged the city in 725 and destroyed the old church. Several centuries later, the English besieged the city during the Hundred Years' War.

Today there two universities here, whose more than 3000 students bring life to the city.

The area was Christianized in the 4th/5th century by Saints Martial and Amantius: There is no mention of a bishop's church until the 6th century; however, it was enlarged and rebuilt several times over the following centuries. After the collapse of the bell tower of the previous building in 1276, the decision was made to completely rebuild it, which, like the old cathedral, was located outside the existing city walls. Construction work dragged on until 1531 due to the Hundred Years' War and several plague epidemics. The building was thus completed shortly before the outbreak of the Huguenot Wars (1562–1598).

The west facade, completely devoid of ornamentation gives the impression of a castle rather than a church. This impression is further reinforced by the flat sections of wall, the octagonal stair towers, and the arrow-slit-like windows of the central section.