Évry Cathedral

Évry Cathedral of the Resurrection (Cathédrale de la Résurrection d'Évry) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the new town of Évry (Essonne), France, designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta. It opened in 1995, and was consecrated and dedicated to Saint Corbinian in 1996.

Description

The Diocese of Corbeil, also known as Corbeil-Essonnes,[1] was created in 1966, and the parish church of Saint-Spire was elevated to the status of the bishop's seat as Corbeil Cathedral, but neither it nor any other of the existing churches was suitable in size and location, and the bishop's offices were in a converted primary school. Évry was the natural centre of the area and population of the new diocese, and was accordingly chosen as the episcopal centre but lacked a suitable significant structure.

Twelve years later, in 1988, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes and Évry Cathedral was commissioned from the Swiss architect Mario Botta. Initial studies were conceived the same year, and ground breaking took place in spring 1991. He designed a strikingly contemporary cylindrical concrete tower, 34.5 meters (113 feet) high, faced with 840,000 handmade red bricks crowned by a ring of trees around the edge of the roof. The altar was created from a single piece of white Carrara marble. Construction was funded by contributions from more than 300,000 donors, a national fund created between the two World Wars for reconstruction religious structures destroyed in the Paris region, a major contribution from the Diocese of Munich (Germany), and public agencies in the Île-de-France region.

The building is the only completely new, purpose-built cathedral constructed in France in the 20th century.[2] As seat of the diocese, it has now superseded Corbeil Cathedral.

Évry Cathedral opened its doors to the public on 11 April 1995, was dedicated on Easter 1996, and was visited by Pope John-Paul II on 22 August 1997. Self-directed tours of the cathedral with audioguides and group tours are available daily, including Sunday.

Notes

  1. ↑ The name of the present town of Corbeil-Essonnes is spelt with a final -s; the name of the department Essonne in which the town is located is spelt without one
  2. ↑ A number of new cathedrals have been created in the 20th century but apart from Évry they were all already in existence as churches or were reconstructions of previously existing buildings

Sources

References

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Coordinates: 48°37′25″N 2°25′43″E / 48.62361°N 2.42861°E / 48.62361; 2.42861

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