| Orleans Cathedral |
| The Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Sainte-Croix) of Orleans in the Centre-Val de Loire region | Párr. 1 |
| of France, was first built in the 13th century CE on the site of a series of older churches dating | |
| back to the 4th century CE. The cathedral, which hosted the coronations of several French | |
| kings, was added to over the centuries and is a splendid example of both the Gothic and | |
| 5 | Classical styles of architecture. It is very similar in both design and dimensions to the | |
| Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. In many ways, the cathedral is a monument to the city's | |
| great heroine, Saint Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431 CE) who saved Orleans during the Hundred | |
| Years' War (1337 - 1453 CE) between France and England. A chapel in the apse is dedicated | |
| to the saint, and her life story is told in ten of the cathedral's stained glass windows. | |
| 10 | Today's cathedral was built on the site of a much older church, built by Saint Euverte, | Párr. 2 |
| the Bishop of Orleans, c. 375 CE. Saint Euverte claimed to have seen a vision in which the | |
| hand of God appeared in the sky to bless the church on its foundation. The hand symbol still | |
| appears today on the keystone of the chancel ceiling. The spot had an even more ancient | |
| religious association than Euverte's church, though, as archaeology has revealed the remains | |
| 15 | of some sort of structure, perhaps a Roman pagan temple, which dates to the 1st century CE. | |
| A small section of the wall of the 4th-century CE Roman church can be seen on the north | |
| side of the cathedral, and there are also some remains preserved in the crypt. | |
| In the 5th century CE, a basilica replaced the older church, and it proved to be a useful | Párr. 3 |
| place of refuge during the attacks in the region by Attila the Hun in 451 CE when Orleans | |
| 20 | was besieged. A portion of a once huge 8th-century CE circular floor mosaic can still be seen | |
| today in the cathedral's crypt. Revamped again in the 9th century CE, the church now | |
| assumed the familiar cross shape of Christian churches. In 848 CE the structure was | |
| impressive enough to host Charles the Bald's coronation as King of West Francia, and in 888 | |
| CE King Odo of West Francia had his coronation ceremony in the cathedral, too. | |
| 25 | Disaster then struck in 989 CE when the church - and most of the town - was gutted | Párr. 4 |
| by a tremendous fire but this provided an opportunity to build a bigger and better church than | |
| ever before. The King of the Franks, Hugues Capet (r. 987-996 CE) and his son Robert the | |
| Pious (996-1031 CE), saw to it that Bishop Arnoul I had sufficient funds to construct a great | |
| new Romanesque cathedral which was completed c. 1000 CE. In 1087 CE the apse was | |
| 30 | extended, and in 1107 CE a towered facade added which had three large doorways. The same | |
| year Louis VI the Fat (r. 1107-1137 CE), King of the Franks, was crowned in the cathedral. | |
| The essential blueprint for the later Gothic cathedral was now established, and the building, | |
| the largest of its kind in France at the time, was already attracting pilgrims from far and wide. | |
| By the 13th century CE, the cathedral proved a little too large for its foundations and | Párr. 5 |
| 35 | there occurred structural problems caused by subsidence. Attempts to strengthen the | |
| foundations failed, and there was even a partial collapse of the north aisle in 1278 CE and | |
| again in 1286 CE. The faithful were now too afraid to enter the cathedral and so a massive | |
| rebuilding project was undertaken. | |
| Work began on 11 September 1287 CE but, interrupted by various wars, the project | Párr. 6 |
| 40 | would take over 250 years to finish. The old towers of the facade were kept but the rest of | |
| the building was constructed on a higher level than the previous Romanesque version and | |
| extended out much further on all four sides. The new chancel was completed by the end of | |
| the 13th century CE, and over the next century side chapels were added to the apse and the | |
| nave was almost completed. Work was suspended during the Hundred Years' War but Joan | |
| 45 | of Arc visited and prayed in the cathedral on 29 April 1429 CE when the city was under siege | |
| by English forces. In the mid-15th century CE work finally resumed and the Gothic transept | |
| and nave were finished and a bell and clock tower added so that by 1530 CE the massive | |
| Cathedral of the Holy Cross was finally completed. | |