Arras Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast d'Arras) is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the city of Arras in France. It is the seat of the bishops of Arras.
The original cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 and 1396, was one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in northern France, until it was destroyed in the French Revolution. The cathedral was the resting place of Louis de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, illegitimate son of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière.
In 1833 the church of the former St. Vaast's Abbey was rebuilt in classical style as a replacement cathedral.
The design was chosen by the former abbot of St. Vaast's, the Cardinal de Rohan, and is of remarkable simplicity.
Arras Cathedral was destroyed by shelling in April 1917 during the run-up to the Nivelle offensives of World War I.
Famous quotes containing the words arras and/or cathedral:
“There is a time for building
And a time for living and for generation
And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane
And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots
And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons—
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)