The Cathedral of Strasburg

Cathedral of Strasburg

STRASBURG

PUBLISHED BY A. VIX & Cie

31, PLACE DE LA CATHÉDRALE

1922.

I. HISTORY

Among the wonderful monuments to which the religious
art of the middle ages has given rise and which will for ever
excite the admiration of men, the church of Notre-Dame or
Cathedral of Strasburg occupies one of the first ranks. By
its dimensions, the richness of the ornaments and figures
that adorn its exterior, by the majesty of its nave, and by its
light steeple, which towers towards Heaven with as much
grace as boldness, this house of God proclaims afar its destination
and leaves a deep and indelible impression on the
soul of any one who gazes on it.

Exhibiting in all its different parts models of every epoch
of christian architecture, this Cathedral is for the artist a
subject of serious study and for the inhabitant of Strasburg
a venerable monument, which recalls to his mind the principal
events of the ancient history of our city.

According to some old traditions, the Cathedral is built on a
spot, which, from the remotest times, had been devoted to
worship. Originally this spot formed a hill sloping westward
into a cavity, which was filled up many centuries ago. Around
it, the Celts, the first inhabitants of our country, built their
huts: its summit was covered by the sacred wood, in the
midst of which rose the druidical dolmen. It was there that
those barbarians offered sacrifices to Esus, their God of war,[4]
sacrifices which, in times of public calamity, were human
victims.

After the conquest of Gaul by the Romans, a regular and
fortified town was very soon founded on the place hitherto
occupied by the scattered habitations of the Celts. The old
name of Argentorat was alone preserved; it signified a town
where the river is crossed over. It was there, according to
tradition, that a temple dedicated to Hercules and Mars succeeded
the druidical forest. There is nothing unlikely in these
traditions; the high ground on which the Cathedral stands
speaks as much in their favour as the pagan statues found in
the neighbourhood1.

With respect to the first erection of a christian church in
this place, history is destitute of authentic facts. Some old
chronicles report that about the middle of the fourth century,
saint Amand built a church on the ruins of a Roman temple,
but the existence of this supposed first bishop of Strasburg
is even very doubtful. During the first years of the fifth century,
the invasion of barbarians filled the provinces of Gaul
with terror and devastation; the German tribes that crossed
the Rhine plundered the Roman city of Argentorat and its
temples. Nobody knows whether from that time new inhabitants
settled in the midst of these ruins, or whether they
served but as temporary abodes to the hordes successively
coming into Gaul.

It was only after the conquest of that extensive country by[5]
the Franks that, about 510, Clovis had a church built at
Argentorat, no doubt on the spot where the Cathedral now
stands. The architecture of that church was as coarse and
barbarous as the spirit of those times; it was built of wood
and supported by earthen walls, extending from East to
West; on this latter end was the front-gate and before it
a portico; besides the principal nave it had two aisles; the
western side opening into a yard that served as a passage to
the priest’s house.

In proportion as the town, the name of which was by the
Franks changed into Strasburg, increased in importance and
population, the Merovegian kings granted greater favours to
the church founded by one of their predecessors. The valuable
donations they bestowed on the bishopric of Strasburg, enabled
the inhabitants to embellish and enlarge the Cathedral. In 675
Dagobert II granted to bishop Arbogast the town of Ruffach
with the castle of Isenburg and a vaste domain that he freed
from tax and royal jurisdiction and which on that account
was called superior Mundat. A no less important gift was
that from Count Rudhart, who made over to the church of Strasburg,
in 748, Ettenheim with several neighbouring villages on
the right bank of the Rhine. Many other eminent personages
of this country increased successively by their liberality the
wealth of the episcopal see. A great advantage was granted by
Charlemain in 775, which was to exempt the subjects of the
bishopric from all tolls and taxes imposed upon the traders travelling
through the empire. At that time considerable sums had
already been employed to adorn the interior of the Cathedral.
In the year 826, the abbot Ermold the Black, living in exile
at Strasburg, speaks with enthusiasm of the beautiful temple
of the Virgin and of the other altars that decorate it. This
ecclesiastic, with great ardour changed the metal of the antique
statues he could yet find into sacred vases; a bronze[6]
Hercules, two cubits high, alone escaped the pursuit of his
pious zeal; after preserving it several centuries in the Cathedral,
it was at last sold, and is now at Issy near Paris.

A fire, which in 873 destroyed a portion of the church and
all its archives, occasioned, no doubt, important repairs, and
this event was the cause of a new royal confirmation of all the
possessions of the church. In 1002 it was plundered, profaned
and set on fire by the soldiers of Hermann, duke of Suabia
and Alsacia, who was then contending with Henry of Bavaria
for the imperial crown, Strasburg and its bishop Wernher
having declared for the latter. Subdued by Henry II, Hermann
was compelled to repair the damage caused to the church
by placing at bishop Wernher’s disposal the income of the
abbey of Saint-Stephen of which he was the patron. With
these funds, which the bishop increased by means of a new
levy of taxes and by indulgences, he was preparing to restore
his Cathedral, when in 1007 a thunderbolt achieved its destruction.

He then formed the project of rebuilding the church on a
plan of much larger dimensions and after the style of architecture
that was then making its first appearance. The revenues
of the bishopric, contributions furnished by the clergy
of Alsacia and large sums of money granted by the head of
the empire, afforded Wernher the necessary resources for
the execution of his plan. This was examined and discussed
in the presence of several master-architects whom he had
sent for. The plan once fixed upon, stones were brought from
the fine quarries of free-stone in the Kronthal. The peasants
and bondsmen of the country brought them to the town where
they were cut in the square then called Frohnhof, between
the Cathedral and the present palace. It was during these
labours that in 1042 the emperor Henry II came to Strasburg;
the dignified and austere deportment of the clergy of[7]
the high chapter, the tranquillity prevailing under the roof
of the episcopal church, made such an impression on this
prince, that he for a moment resolved to resign the crown
and solicit his admittance among the canons of the Cathedral.
The bishop appeared at first to accede to this wish; but it
was only to prescribe to Henry, henceforth his subordinate, to
resume the imperial authority which Providence had bestowed
on him; the emperor acquiesced and perpetuated the remembrance
of his pious wish by the foundation of a royal prebend.

When, in 1015, a sufficient quantity of materials was collected,
they set to work by digging the ground. At the depth
of more than five fathoms they drove down stakes, filled the
space between them with clay mixed with lime, fragments
of bricks and coal; and on this solid base were laid the
foundation stones.

Tradition gives an account of a hundred and even two
hundred thousand men being employed in the construction of
this church, which work, thanks to the religious enthusiasm
of that epoch and the labours performed by vassals and workmen
for the salvation of their souls, advanced very rapidly.

In the year 1027 bishop Wernher set out for Constantinople,
and never returned to his native land. From that time we have
but imperfect and uncertain accounts touching the progress
of the building. All we know is, that in 1028 they had built
up to the roof. It seems likely from that account that this
monument, built in the byzantine style, at once so elegant
and so simple, was soon after completed by the erection of a
tower, and that it remained in the same state till, owing to
sundry circumstances and, perhaps, to bad construction, it
began to need important repair. It is impossible to determine
the time when repairing the church took place; however, this
happened probably not before the middle of the thirteenth
century and in the then new style, since called the Gothic[8]
order. This opinion is confirmed by the ancient seal of our
city, which likely enough and according to the custom of
those times, represents the front of the Cathedral.

That it had a tower in 1130 is a certain fact; for Kœnigscoven
speaks of its destruction by fire in the course of that
year; successive fires, in 1140, 1150, 1176 also materially
injured the beautiful edifice; besides, the continual wars
and tumultuous commotions of the time prevented the bishops
from undertaking essential repairs. It appears that these
causes, by degrees, brought on the complete ruin of bishop
Wernher’s constructions; for unquestionably the part included
between the nave and the two towers dates but from
the thirteenth century, and cannot have been begun before
the middle of it. What remained of the old church was
pulled down at that time and a new and more spacious edifice
was erected, built in the style then spreading over all Europe.
Considering the immense size of this monument, it is easy to
imagine that the work went on but slowly, and an old chronicle
mentions that on the 7th September 1275 they finished the
middle part of the superior arch-roofs, with the exception of
the towers in front. By whom these labours were directed is
altogether unknown.

It was bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg who undertook to
rebuild the parts that were still in a state of ruin and thus at
last to accomplish this great work of the Cathedral1.

In order to execute this design, he published indulgences
all over the country; and after collecting large sums of money
in the town, he applied to the ecclesiastics of his diocese, asking
their own gifts and offerings as well as those of the faithful
under their direction; in a synod held in the diocese, the[9]
clergy agreed to give up, during four years, a fourth part of
their revenues. Conrad entrusted the direction of this work to
Master Erwin of Steinbach, who, according to some old documents,
was a native of Mayence. This great architect began
by rebuilding the nave, the arch-roofs of which were completed
in 1275. Then he commenced the façade of the church
and its towers from a plan so bold and sublime that the conception
of it places Erwin for ever at the head of the architects
of the middle age1. In 1276 they laid the foundation of
the northern tower; to consecrate the spot, the bishop walked
solemnly round it, then took a trowel in his hand and thrust
it into the ground, as a sign for beginning the work. They
relate that a quarrel having occured between two workmen
who both wished to work with the trowel the bishop had held
in his hand, one of them was killed. This murder was considered
as a very bad omen; Conrad ordered their labour
to be suspended for nine days; they were only resumed
after he had consecrated the place anew. The following year,
on saint Urban’s day (25th May), Conrad himself laid the first
stone of the tower. In the midst of his warfares, this bishop
always entertained much affection for his Cathedral, as
he beheld the gradual rising of this glorious work, as an
old inscription terms it2; in his heartfelt joy he used to compare
it to the flowers of May that bloom in the sun3. To the
very end of his life Conrad of Lichtenberg neglected nothing[10]
to urge on the progress of his work of predilection; after his
death, in 1299, he received in it a sepulchre worthy of him; his
statue is still to be seen in saint John’s chapel. Yet, during
the life of Conrad, the Cathedral was shaken by several
earthquakes in 1279, 1289, 1291; that of 1289 was so violent
that the columns in the interior of the building threatened
for a moment to fall down. But a very favourable circumstance
happened in 1292, which was the surrender of the
Œuvre-Notre-Dame to the magistrate of the city, who
was henceforth charged with the management of the revenues
allotted to the keeping in repair of the Church
and consequently also to the completion of it. A few years
after, in 1298, a new misfortune happened to the Cathedral.
A fire, caused by the imprudence of a cavalier of Albert I,
during the sojourn of that prince at Strasburg, consumed
all the timberwork and threatened even the pillars and walls.
However the damage was promptly repaired. In 1302 a bloody
conflict between two citizens of the town, which took place in
the very chancel of the church, required again a new consecration
of it.

After the death of bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg, who in
the year 1299 was killed in a battle near Friburg, his brother
and successor, Frederic, showed no less ardour for the continuation
of this building; in 1303 he invited the curates
throughout Alsacia to exhort those of their faithful parishioners
who had horses and carts, to convey stones for the edifice;
in 1308 the magistrate of Strasburg, no doubt at the request
of bishop John, promised freepasses to all those who
would bring stones or wood, and he secured wine and wheat
for the workmen.

Erwin superintended the works until 1318, when he died on
the 14th of January. All the children of this grand master were
artists worthy of him: Sabina, his daughter, carved several[11]
statues for the Cathedral; one of his sons, who died in
1330, built the fine church of Haslach; his other son, John,
succeeded him in directing the works of the Cathedral,
and he died in 1339. In 1331 bishop Berthold of Bucheck
built the chapel of saint Catherine, which also contains
his tomb. The disturbances and calamities that desolated
Strasburg during a great part of the fourteenth century, the
revolution of 1332 that altered the form of the government of
the town, the ravage caused by the black plague in 1349 with
the insurrections accompanying it, the contest of bishop
Berthold with his chapter and with the emperor, all this retarded
of course the progress of the construction of the Cathedral.
Nevertheless they terminated in 1365 the northern tower;
Kœnigshoven calls it the new tower, perhaps, because they
purposed erecting a pyramid on it, which was quite an innovation
in the architecture of that time. The southern tower,
which the chronicler calls the ancient one, because it was
not intended to be raised higher, was finished at the
same time. The name of the artist who made the plan of the
pyramid and spire of the northern tower is still unknown;
nor is it known who built the steeple which formerly rose
above the grande rosace, or rose.

In 1368 the church was again struck by lightning without receiving
much damage; in 1384 a fire that broke out in the organ,
burnt all the interior with the exception of the chancel.
Ever since that time large vats were set in the different parts
of the building and guardians placed in the interior and in
the towers. In 1429, John Hültz of Cologne was sent for
to complete this great work; ten years after, he finished
the spire; on Midsummer’s day 1439, in the presence of
a great multitude, he laid the last stone, exactly a hundred
and sixty two years after Conrad of Lichtenberg had placed
the first stone of this monument; a statue of the Virgin[12]
Mary was also erected on the knob terminating the spire1.

At the time of the reformation the Cathedral passed over
to the protestants; it is true that on account of their worship,
they caused several chapels to be closed and some altars
to be removed, but they made no material change, nor spoiled
any thing; on the contrary, they watched with care over the
magnificent building and even caused important repairs to be
made in it. Several times it was very much injured by
fire and by lightning, particularly in the years 1540, 1555,
1568, 1624 and 1625. In 1654 the spire was destroyed by
lightning; the skilful architect Heckler was obliged to rebuild
it sixty five feet high. By the capitulation of 1681 the Cathedral
was restored to the catholics, who immediately began
to repair it, but unfortunately in that wretched style then
prevailing, and when not the least intelligence of christian
art existed any longer, they pulled down the lobby made by
Erwin, so much admired in the middle age as a masterpiece
of elegance; in 1692 they adorned the interior of the
choir with wainscots of wood painted and gilt; in 1732 they
widened it to the detriment of a portion of the nave, and
ten years later galleries were made for the orchestra.
To punish, as it would seem, those who were thus spoiling
this wonderful monument, an earthquake shook it in 1728;
in 1759 it was struck by lightning and considerably injured;
the lead on the roof of the nave was entirely melted, and the
fine cupola or arched roof that crowned the dome fell into
pieces; the roof was then covered with copper, but the
cupola was not rebuilt. New destructions awaited the Cathedral
in 1793; in their fury of levelling, the men who then ruled
the country caused two hundred and thirty four effigies of
saints and kings to be taken down from their niches, of which[13]
very few only were saved; the crazy jacobin Teterel even proposed
pulling down the spire, because, by its height extending
far beyond that of the ordinary houses, it was condemning
the principle of equality; the motion not being carried on.
Teterel obtained the assurance at least, that a large red
cap made of tin should be placed on the top of the Cathedral,
and it was to be seen among other curiosities in the town-library,
before its destruction.

The year 1870, so full of important events for Strasburg,
was also fatal for the Cathedral, and during the seven weeks’
cannonading of the town the beautiful building was constantly
threatened with ruin. In the first period of the siege of Strasburg,
the Germans tried to force the surrender by the bombardment
and partial destruction of the inner town. In the
night of the 23rd of August began for the frightened inhabitants
the real time of terror; however that night the rising
conflagrations, for instance in St. Thomas’ church, were
quickly put out. But in the following night the New-Church,
the Library of the town, the Museum of paintings and many
of the finest houses became a heap of ruins, and under the
hail of shells all efforts to extinguish the fire were useless. For
the Cathedral the night from the 25th to 26th of August was
the worst. Towards midnight the flames broke out from the
roof perforated by shells, and increased by the melting copper,
they rose to a fearful height beside the pyramid of the
spire. The sight of this grand volume of flames, rising above
the town, was indescribable and tinged the whole sky with its
glowing reflection. And the guns went on thundering and shattering
parts of the stone ornaments which adorned the front
and sides of the Cathedral. The whole roof came down and
the fire died out only for want of fuel. The following morning
the ground in the interior was covered with ruins, and
through the holes in the vault of the nave one could see the[14]
blue sky. The beautiful Organ built by Silbermann was pierced
by a shell and the magnificent painted windows were in great
part spoiled. Fortunately the celebrated astronomical Clock
had escaped unhurt.

As the Military Command continued for some time to occupy
a post of observation on the platform, the Cathedral
was unfortunately still longer the aim of German guns which
every day surrounded the building with ruins. On the 4th of
September two shells hit the crown of the Cathedral and
hurled the stonemasses to incredible distances; on the 15th a
shot came even into the point below the Cross, which was
bent on one side, and had its threatened fall only prevented
by the iron bars of the lightning conductor which
held it.

After the entrance of the Germans into the reconquered
town, the difficult and dangerous work of restauration of the
point of the spire was begun at once and happily ended a
few months after. They work also constantly to make the
other damages disappear, and in a short time the magnificent
house of God will be restored to all its ancient splendour.

[15]

II. DESCRIPTION.

The first aspect of the Cathedral produces on the mind a
deep impression. One is seized with admiration and amazed
at the first view of this noble edifice whose steeple towers up
so gracefully and majestically. No doubt that examined in all
its particular parts, one may also be struck with the disproportion
that exists between them; the nave is not in harmony
with the dimensions of the tower, the chancel and
transept still less so: but although this want of uniformity
may lessen the symmetry of the monument, the impression it
at first produces is no less extraordinary. And besides, have
not those different styles a particular interest for those who
study the history of architecture? In the Cathedral are, as it
were, brought together all the styles or orders of architecture
of the middle ages, from the byzantine art with its grave
simplicity, down to the last glimmerings of the gothic art,
now declining, and its works lined with an excess of superfluous
ornaments. The byzantine taste prevails in the first
constructions of the chancel and aisles and even somewhat in
the lower part of the nave; higher up, the style in which the
ogive was built extends to the other constructions and finally
succeeds to the former entirely.

The façade of the church, of an imposing magnitude, cannot[16]
be sufficiently admired; the massive walls are hidden by
clochetoons, arcades, small pillars and innumerable statues;
these decorations all wrought to great perfection, give to
that part of the edifice a nicety that makes it resemble a work
coming from the hands of a chaser. But how to describe, in the
short space which the limits of this sketch admit, all the details,
all the particular parts of our Cathedral? There is in it
such a profusion, such a richness, that to be properly explored,
it would require volumes. We must therefore limit
ourselves to some brief indications of the most interesting
and essential parts1. Moreover a description of all the allegorical
statues and figures that adorn particularly the inferior
parts of the building, would be here so much the more
superfluous, as an intelligent spectator may easily understand
them. All these fine ornaments are meant to symbolize
the mysteries of Redemption, taken from the principal
facts in Scripture and from the fundamental doctrines of the
christian faith. In this respect the lower tier is the most remarkable;
the middle one has neither the same beauty nor
the same religious signification; the third is the least satisfactory
both as regards execution and artistical conception.

The whole of the façade is formed of the two fore-parts
of the northern and southern towers and of the large central
porch; these three distinct portions are separated by
counterforts or pillars which divide, as it were, the frontispiece
into three broad vertical bands, each of which has its
portico. These porticos and their frontons are ornamented
with a great many statues and bas-reliefs, some of which
pulled down during the revolution, have since been replaced.
The large figures in the left portico are twelve virgins, wearing
diadems and trampling down human forms representing[18]
the seven deadly sins. On both sides of the right hand
portico are seen the ten virgins of the parable; to the group
of the wise virgins on the right is joined the statue of Jesus-Christ;
the foolish virgins composing the group on the left
side, have among them an allegoric figure expressing the
lust of the world: on her head is a wreath, in one hand she
holds an apple, the ancient symbol of lust; her back bears
hideous vipers, to portray the sad fate which must be the
inevitable result of inordinate earthly desires.

All these statues, now blackened by the centuries that have
passed over them, have all a stern appearance, like those
that deck the magnificent middle porch representing either
prophets of the Old Testament, Apostles or fathers of the
Church. In the arches of these three porticos are figures of a
smaller size, which like the bas-reliefs of the tympans, exhibit
either scenes taken from Scripture, or saints and angels.
In the tympan on the right hand door, Jesus is seen seated
on a rain-bow, and over him is the Resurrection of the dead
and the Judgment-day. On the butting pillar that divides both
folds of the middle porch1, is placed a blessed Virgin holding
an infant Christ in her arms. The fronton of this portal is
formed by two triangles and adorned with many figures; that
on the summit of the interior triangle, which first strikes the
eye, is king Solomon seated under a canopy; on both sides
of him are fourteen lions raised on steps or benches that
draw near towards the top and join near a Virgin Mary sitting
with the infant Christ on one arm and holding a globe in her
other hand; she is the Patroness of the church. Above her
a radiated head, representing God the Father, forms the
point of the triangle that encircles the inside fronton, which[19]
is decked with figures playing on different musical instruments.
On the sides facing the North and South, the two
towers have each a large window with most beautiful rosaces.
Over the window on the South side is seen a very old
sculpture, the grotesque figures of which represent the night
revelling of sorcerers. The frontons of the other porticos are
also adorned with rosaces.

On the second tier of the middle porch is a large rose-window
that occupies the whole width of it. It is surrounded by
a detached arch, which as much on account of the elegance
of its workmanship, as of the boldness of its construction,
is one of the most admirable parts of the Cathedral. The
large painted windows have been repaired by skilful artists,
Mr. Ritter and Mr. Müller. Where the second tier begins,
at the bottom of the rose-window, are four equestrian statues,
placed in niches in the counterforts, three of which,
those of Clovis, Dagobert and Rodolphe of Habsburg, were
erected in 1291, the fourth, that of Louis XIV, was placed
only in 1828. Clovis and Dagobert were the benefactors of
the church of Strasburg. Rodolphe stands there, less on account
of his liberalities to the Cathedral, than for having been
to the last the valiant friend of the Republic of Strasburg. King
Louis XIV accompanies the three others, rather from adulation
than any other cause. On the upper tier of the façade
are placed the equestrian statues of king Pepin the Short,
of Charlemain, Otho the Great and Henry I the Fowler. On
the south-side are seen in the first tier the emperors Otho
II, Otho III and Henry II; in the upper tier of the same side,
the equestrian statues of Conrad II, Henry III and the statue
of Henry IV. On the north-side of the façade are the equestrian
statues of Charles Martel, the Franconian majordomo; of Louis
the Debonair and Lotharius, the son of Louis the Debonair;
at last in the upper tier, the statues of Charles the Bald, king[20]
of the West-Franconians and the equestrian statues of Lotharius
II and Louis the German (✝876).

Over the rose-window, but still in the compartment of the
second tier, is a gallery furnished with the figures of the
Apostles, and above them is placed Jesus-Christ holding in
his hands a cross and banner. In the lateral towers, the same
tier is taken up on each side by a high broad window in
the shape of an ogee, before which rise very slender pillars.
Exactly over these windows, on the third tier and also on
each side, are three very high and narrow windows; the middle
part, though wider, has but two, rather small ones, and
surrounded by some statues. This very massive portion of the
building betrays at first sight its later origin; when Erwin’s
plan was abandoned, this part was added to fill up the empty
space between the two towers; these were already completed,
and even have on the third tier their windows looking into
the central porch, but which are at present hidden from the
outside. That part of the middle porch is used as a belfry,
four large bells are suspended in it, the largest of which, cast
in 1427, weighs nine thousand kilogrammes, and serves
to announce great festival days; it is also rung at the death
of renowned personages, or in case of fire.

It was only in the year 1849 that the front was ornamented
with statues representing the day of judgment.
This group, consisting of fifteen gigantic figures, was made
after the old drawings preserved in the archives of the Œuvre-Notre-Dame.
Jesus-Christ, as judge, is in the middle, with
Mary and John the Baptist on either side; they are surrounded
by angels sounding the trumpet of Dooms-day, or bearing
the instruments of our Saviour’s passion; beneath are seen the
Evangelists, having men’s bodies surmounted by the heads of
the four symbols which generally accompany them.

Above the middle porch and the southward tower, is the[21]
platform, very spacious and surrounded by a handsome
balustrade; on it is built a small house for the guardians
charged to strike the hours and ring the alarm bell in case of
fire. From the top of this platform one enjoys a magnificent
view; the wonderful panorama that unfolds itself from there,
has been drawn with as much taste as accuracy by Mr. Frederic
Piton, a zealous amateur of our local history. Towards
the North, in the direction of the Wacken, an island near Strasburg,
is seen on the horizon the mountain of the Pigeonnier
(Scherhol in German), at the foot of which lies Wissemburg;
to its right rise the peaks crowned by the ruins of Gutenberg
and Trifels, and the famous Geisberg taken by storm in the
war of 1870. On the other side of the Rhine, whose majestic
stream the eye can easily trace, the long range of the mountains
of the Black Forest limits the horizon. The first peak
that is seen is that of the Eichelberg, at the opening of the
valley of the Murg; then comes the Fremersberg, the Mount-Mercury,
the mountain with the ruins of Yburg; all these
names are known to those who have visited Baden. Beyond
these summits is the high level ground of the Hornisgründe,
on the other side of which is seen, in the midst of
a forest, the dark lake named Mummelsee. Farther on, eastward,
beyond the arsenal of Strasburg and the village of Kehl,
you observe the castle of Schauenburg, near Oberkirch,
where the valley of the Rench begins. After gliding over the
ruin of Fürsteneck and Schauenburg, the eye rests on the
stately buildings of Ortenberg, rebuilt after the middle age
architecture, at the entrance of the valley of the Kinzig.
Directing your eye more towards the South, you discover the
mountains of Triberg, and close to them those of Lahr; then
comes the loftiest peak of the Black Forest, the Feldberg,
1494 metres high. Farther on the eye may discover (if tine)
the Ballon and the Blauen, behind the hills of the Kaiserstuhl;[22]
thence this ridge of mountains is lost sight of. In the
plain, between the Rhine and the Vosges, a double row of
poplars points out the Canal (from the Rhone to the Rhine).
The first peak seen in the range of the Vosges towards the
South-East is the Ballon of Sultz, 993 metres high; the eye
then discovers in a western direction the ruins of the three
castles of Egisheim, Haut-Hattstatt and Landsberg, the top
of the Ballon of Gebwiller, 1426 metres high the Hoheneck,
the ruins of the old castles of Kientzheim, Rappoltstein, Hoh-
(High) Kœnigsburg, Ortenburg, Bernstein, Frankenburg
and the summits of the Bressoir and Ungersberg. Looking in
the direction of Saint-Thomas’ church, at one glance the eye
overlooks the country of the old Hohenburg, so picturesque
and so rich in monuments and historical associations: the
castle of Landsberg, the rock of the Mænnelstein, the convent
of Sainte-Odile, behind which rises the level ground of
the Champ-du-Feu; further on to the right, are the ruins of
Girbaden, the peaks of the Donon and Schneeberg. Here the
mountains are by degrees lost from sight in the distance; on
the horizon one may however distinguish the towers of the
castles of Geroldseck and Hoh- (High) Barr, in the vicinity
of Zabern; then nothing more is seen but meadows, forests,
fields, from the centre of which you see now and then the
modest church-steeples of the numerous villages that cover
the fine plain of Alsacia.

On the North side stands a tower of an octangular form,
supporting the spire. This tower consists, as it were, but
of strong buttresses adorned with small columns and statues,
and having large apertures in which very high windows
are set and take nearly the whole breadth on the four
sides, where they are. Among the statues that face the platform,
one must be noticed as being, according to tradition,
that of Erwin of Steinbach. In the interior of this tower[23]
are the bells that strike the hours, that which is called
the gates’ bell (Thorglocke)1 and also a clock made in 1786
by two clockmakers of Strasburg, Maybaum father and son.
An inscription over the door leading to the platform recalls
to mind the earthquake of 1728, so violent that the water
was raised from the reservoirs and thrown to a distance
of eighteen feet2. In front of the four principal sides
of the octagon tower are turrets with winding stairs, and
consisting but of a series of windows that rise in a spiral
form. These elegant turrets seem hardly to rest on any thing;
besides the gallery that covers them, they communicate with
the principal tower but by means of flat stones that serve as
an entrance into a gallery of the interior of the arch-roof, and
which lie at a height of almost thirty metres. According to
the old drawings, these turrets should have been surmounted
by pyramidal spires. They terminate in a gallery that surrounds
the tower, from whence one enjoys a most admirable
view. It is from that spot that rises the spire (flèche), which
is an octangular pyramid of an extraordinary boldness, offering
to the astonished gazer nothing of a massive construction.
Six successive tiers of little turrets are thus pyramidically
placed one above the other3. Eight winding stair-cases, narrow
and of rich open carvings, lead the visitor to a massive spot[24]
commonly called the lantern; higher up is the crown4, which is
not reached without danger, by means of steps placed outside,
and with no other protection than the wall to which they are
fastened; above another widened place, called the rose, the
spire is nothing but a column whence jut out horizontal branches
to give it the aspect of a cross. The monument terminates
in a knob being 0m .460 in diameter and to which ever since
1835 a lightning-conductor has been adapted; one may climb
there but with the aid of iron bars to which you must cling with
hands and feet. The total height of this stately building is 142m.

The nave, decked with a copper roof, abounds no less in
decoration than the front. It has large ogive windows adorned
with rosaces; at the place where the buttresses, equally
carved with rosaces, join the counterforts or pillars, they
have at their tops fine clochetoons; a great many statues and
grotesque figures of heads complete the ornaments of this part
of the church. Two galleries, one under the windows, the
other below the clochetoons of the counterforts, lead from
the towers to the cross-aisle. This, as we have already said,
is still byzantine in several parts of it. The southern porch,
formed by two semi-circular doors made evidently at one of the
remotest periods of the Cathedral, is adorned with bas-reliefs
and statues; according to tradition, it is reported that two
of these statues are the work of Sabina of Steinbach. One is
a woman in a triumphal posture holding in her hands a
communion cup and a cross; she is the symbol of the church
that vanquished the synagogue; the other, a symbol of the[26]
latter, is a woman looking down, blindfolded and leaning
with pain on a broken spear, whilst the laws of the twelve
tables drop from her left hand. On the parvis before this
porch is erected, on the left, the statue of Sabina herself, and
on the right, the statue of Erwin of Steinbach, both due to
the chisel of Mr. Grass.

The wall of the upper tier has openings for several windows
of an ogive form, above which a gallery runs all
along; two round-windows take up the third tier. The northern
portion of the cross-aisle has more generally preserved
the byzantine manner than that we have just spoken of; however,
this intermixture with the gothic style denounces
latter renovations. The ancient porch, the remains of very
old constructions, is masked by a fore-front that belongs
to the last period of the gothic art, and which was built
in 1494 by James of Landshut; this new porch (porch of
St. Laurence), though handsome in its ensemble, is wanting in
that noble simplicity and purity of taste that distinguishes the
other parts of the Cathedral; it is overloaded with ornaments,
and its statues have a stiffness that is found nowhere else.

The octangular dome over the chancel is also of the byzantine
era; however, it has been renewed in several parts. In
the place of the deformed cupola, destroyed by the fire of
1870, a handsome pyramid has been erected in the year
1878, after the plans of Mr. Klotz, architect of the Cathedral.

Up to 1772 the lower part of the lateral fronts of the church
was disfigured by paltry decayed houses; the same year they
were pulled down and in their places the present porticos
were built, which are not wanting in elegance: the shops
and stalls that formerly obstructed in so disgraceful a manner
the access to the nave, have also disappeared; and the porches
have been repaired with a great amount of good taste.

The view of the interior of the nave leaves a deep impression.[27]
It is mysteriously lighted by magnificent painted windows,
and supported on each side by seven large pillars, composed
of round agglomerated columns. The two first of these pillars,
more gigantic than the rest, support also the towers;
the total elevation of the upper arch is more than 31
metres. The interior front, over the principal porch, is
adorned with a beautiful sculptured round-window; between
this and the grand rose-window is a glass gallery.
Above the arches that unite the pillars on both sides of the
nave and all along is a fine gothic gallery, serving as a basis
to large windows, similar to those of the lower sides of the
church. The lower part of the wall of the latter is ornamented
with a range of small columns, joined together by og-arches.
The magnificent windows of this church represent subjects
and personages of Scripture and Legend. Among the artists
who have painted these windows, the oldest one known,
is master John of Kirchheim; those made after his drawings
were put up in 1348; there is no doubt that many of
his works still adorn the Cathedral. The names of John Markgraf,
James Vischer and the brothers Link were mentioned
later. At the latter part of the eighteenth century John Daniel
Danegger painted also some, which, however, owing to
their mediocrity, have since been removed. For some years
past they have undergone considerable repair under the direction
of artists of talent and well acquainted with the science
of antiquities. The painted windows of the upper galleries of
the nave represent the seventy four ancestors of Jesus Christ;
higher up are the images of saints and martyrs; in the right
aisle, over the vestry, is seen the gigantic figure of saint
Christopher: on the South side, of the six windows that have
each sixteen divisions, the four first contain some scenes from
the history of the Bible; the two last, the day of Judgment and
the celestial Jerusalem. On the North side, in an equal number[28]
of windows, you see the birth of Jesus Christ, the wise
men, and the portraits of several German emperors; the last
of these windows represents a series of the oldest events in
Scripture. The effect produced by these beautiful windows
is greatly increased since they had the happy idea to wash
away the daubing with which, about thirty years ago, they
had besmeared the inner walls of the Cathedral; by these
means the bare part of the wall, a fine stone of a rosy tint,
which served for the construction of the church, is rendered
visible; it was a measure that bespoke much good taste and
knowledge of the christian art.

On the left side of the nave is fixed the organ which extends
up to the superior arch. It is a master-piece of work of Andrew
Silbermann, who was one of the most able organ-builders
of his time and who built it in 1704. Pierced by a shell during
the bombardment of 1870, this organ of Silbermann has been
restored by a distinguished organ builder of our city.

On the same side, at the fifth pillar, stands the pulpit,
erected in 1486 by John Hammerer, by order of the magistrate,
for the celebrated preacher Geiler of Kaysersberg. This
work of sculpture, remarkably delicate, is adorned with nearly
fifty little statues, the meaning of which is easy to understand.
The canopy is of a modern style, and was made in
1824 to replace a more ancient one, perhaps the first
erected in 1617, which has been handed down to us as a most
simple piece of workmanship, and made of lime-wood. At
the foot of the stairs are two figures, a man in the posture
of rest and a woman praying; we may justly suppose that
they are meant for the maker of the pulpit and his wife.

The chancel is joined to the nave by two pillars of very large
dimensions and whose tops belong to one of the constructions
anterior to the gothic order. The magnificent lobby built
by Erwin of Steinbach was taken down to make room for the[30]
taste prevailing in the seventeenth century; it was demolished
in 1682. Two high and circular columns support the
cupola of the chancel and separate it from its two aisles; in
the centre of each of the latter stand also columns to sustain
the arch-roofs; that of the northern part is round, whilst
the column of the southern aisle is composed of a collection
of very slender pillars, probably of a later construction; this
long, thin and gracious column bears in its corners some
statues, the fineness and gracefulness of which recall to
mind the work of Sabina of Steinbach. Beneath are the four
Evangelists; above four angels holding trumpets, and uppermost
the Saviour and three angels with the implements of
the Saviour’s passion in their hands; it is called the angel’s
column or Erwin’s column. On the large pillar which unites
the nave to the chancel, are two inscriptions in commemoration
of the famous preacher Geiler of Kaysersberg who, for
many years, displayed his eloquence from the pulpit of the
Cathedral. In this same aisle is erected the statue of bishop
Wernher, meditating the design of the church laid before
him. Opposite this statue, the work of Mr. Friderich, is the
celebrated.

As early as 1352 an astronomical clock was begun under
bishop Berthold of Bucheck, and finished two years after by
an unknown artist, in the time of John of Lichtenberg. It was
fixed to the wall facing the present one. The frame-work of
that first clock was all of wood; the stones that formed its
basis are to this day seen projecting from the wall. It was
divided into three parts; the lower part contained a universal
calendar; in the middle was an astrolabe, and in the superior
division were seen the three wise men and the Virgin
Mary carved in wood; the wise men bent every hour before[31]
the Virgin, by means of a peculiar mechanism, which at the
same time put in motion a chime of harmonious sounds and
a cock crowing and flapping his wings.

The exact time at which this clock, which in the fourteenth
century must have been a wonderful piece of workmanship,
and was called the clock of the three sages, ceased going,
is not known: it had been stopped for a long time, when in
1547 the magistrate of the town decided on having another
made and putting it opposite the old one, in the very place
the clock now occupies. Three distinguished mathematicians
furnished the plan and superintended the execution of it:
they were Dr Michel Herr, Christian Herlin, professor
of mathematics at the school of Strasburg, and Nicholas
Prugner, who, after preaching the reformation at Mulhouse
and at Benfeld, occupied himself at Strasburg with mechanics
and astrology. These three learned men began this work, but
did not terminate it; it was resumed in the year 1570 by a pupil
of Herlin, named Conrad Dasypodius of Strasburg, where
he was a professor of mathematics. Dasypodius drew the
design of the clock, but its execution was confided to two
skilful mechanics of Schaffhouse, the brothers Isaac and Josiah
Habrecht; Tobias Stimmer, also of Schaffhouse, had the
charge of the paintings. This master-piece of the mechanical
art of the sixteenth century was completed in 1574; it
ceased going in 1789. As the exterior distribution of the present
clock is nearly the same as that of the old clock, we
shall abstain from describing the latter. In 1836 the corporation
of the town of Strasburg adopted the resolution of
causing this curious monument to be repaired. To Mr. Schwilgué,
a distinguished mechanician of Strasburg, his native
place, this remarkable work was entrusted; he began it the
24th of June 1838 and finished it at the end of 1842.

It is one of the most beautiful pieces of workmanship of[32]
our age; its mechanism is entirely new and in accordance
with the present state of the science of astronomy, which as
is well known, has attained a very high degree of certainty
and exactness. Mr. Schwilgué has not made use of any of the
pieces of the old clock, which are deposited in the chapel of
the Œuvre-Notre-Dame; by comparing them with the pieces
composing the new clock, one may judge of the progress of
science and of the talents of the modern artist. M. Schwilgué
preserved of the former clock only its fine case, the paintings
and ornaments of which were carefully repaired. In this
he had many difficulties to overcome, as well for the proper
arrangement of this mechanism and lodging it in a space that
was often very limited, as for making the old signs or indications
accord with the movements of the clockwork. Of
these many were marked only in painting, and must have
been renewed after a certain time, as for instance those for
the eclipses, which now by a most ingenious mechanical
combination will henceforth last for ever. The little statues
which hitherto had no articulation, are now moveable; the
twelve Apostles have been added to the former number of
them. The figure of Death, formerly on the same level with
that of Jesus-Christ, is now placed in the centre of figures
representing the four ages of life and striking the quarters of
hours; the idea of assigning this place to the image of death
is assuredly a more rational and finer one than that which
prevailed in the old distribution of the figures. Childhood
strikes the first quarter; Youth the second; Manhood the
third, and Old Age the last; the first stroke of each quarter is
struck by one of the two genii seated above the perpetual
calendar; the four ages strike the second. Whilst death
strikes the hours, the second of these genii turns over the
hourglass that he holds in his hand. The image of the Saviour
stands now on a higher ground; at the hour of noon the twelve[33]
Apostles pass bowing before him; he lifts up his hand to bless
them, and during that time, a cock, whose motions and voice
imitate nature, flaps his wings and crows three times.

Mr. Schwilgué has altered the old calendar into a perpetual
one with the addition of the feasts that vary, according to
their connexion with Easter or Advent Sundays. The dial,
nine metres in circumference, is subject to a revolution of 365
or 366 days, according as the case may be. Mr. Schwilgué has
even indicated the suppression of the secular bissextile days.
He has moreover enriched his work by adding to it an ecclesiastic
compute with all its indications; an orrery after the
Copernican system, representing the mean tropical revolutions
of each of the planets visible to the naked eye, the phases of
the moon, the eclipses of the sun and moon, calculated for
ever; the true time and the sideral time; a new celestial globe
with the procession of the equinoxes, solar and lunary equations
for the reduction of the mean geocentric ascension and
declension of the sun and moon at true times and places. A dial
placed without the church and showing the hours and days,
is put in motion by the same mechanism of the clockwork.

The camerated roof of the back part of the chancel was formerly
covered with paintings executed in 1686 representing
Dooms-day. A few paintings only adorned till now the interior
of the Cathedral, among which the most remarkable
oil-paintings, executed by artists of Strasburg, are: the
Shepherd’s Adoration, by Guerin, the Laying in the tomb,
by Klein; the Ascension, by Heim, and some others. In the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the chancel was several
times and in different ways enlarged and disfigured by ornaments
little correspondent with the elegance and grandeur
of the gothic order. Tribunes, stairs and wainscots that
formed a strange contrast with the rest of the edifice were
added. The altar, adorned in 1501, with fine figures carved[34]
in wood by Master Nicholas of Haguenau, was changed in
1685 by order of bishop William Egon of Fürstenberg; that
new altar, covered with a baldachin, was destroyed by fire, and
in 1765 the present one, which has nothing in its form
worthy of notice, was erected. Great repairs were begun
some years ago under the direction of the city corporation,
struck, as every body was, by the great disproportion between
the chancel and nave. It was resolved to restore
the chancel to its primitive form and arrangement, and thus
to reestablish the due proportions between that part and the
rest of this magnificent church. This great labour is now
finished. Their natural complement, as required by the style
of this part of the pile and its extensive fronts and arch-roofs,
is the execution of a certain number of monumental
paintings, intrusted to two distinguished artists, Prof. Steinle,
Director of Städel’s Institute in Frankfort a/M. and the historical
painter Steinheil in Paris, a native Alsacian. The
former is charged with the execution of the fresco-paintings
in the chancel and lateral naves, whilst the latter undertook
the reestablishment of the paintings that represent the
Dooms-day on the upper wall of the chancel, in front of the
great nave. Both works, begun in 1876, came in sight for
the visitors of the Cathedral, at the end of 1878.

In restoring to this part of the edifice its former appearance,
it has highly augmented the effect produced on the
inward aspect of the Cathedral; now also may be decided the
question, hitherto doubtful, of the exact time at which the
chancel was built; with certainty, it may already be said,
that it was not erected, as was often affirmed, in the time of
the emperor Charlemain.

In removing the superfetations that had taken place during
these two last centuries, and in reestablishing the architectural
forms that the wretched style then prevailing had concealed,[36]
a succession of large ogive arches of an admirable
and powerful proportion which form the inferior part of the
Apsis, and support a gallery serving as a basis to the upper
story, have come to light. On this story, which is separated
from the cul-de-four (spherical vault) by a single
moulding, are three large ogive windows, the middle one of
which is of colossal dimensions, and between the columns
below are in a symmetrical manner placed, on each side, the
doors of the treasury and chapter-room, and in the centre
lies the bishop’s throne, the niched vault of which is still
more richly decorated; between the intermedial arches are
the staircase doors leading to the gallery.

The Apsis is not very deep and terminates by a segment,
cut out of a masonry work outwardly square; entirely devoted
to the sanctuary, it only contains the high-altar, the twenty
four stalls of the chapter and a necessary room to perform
divine worship. In 1878 an accompanying organ has been
erected on the left side. This beautiful instrument, made by
Mr. Merklin, the skilful organ-builder of Lyons, is a masterpiece
of art and taste that enhances indeed the chancel of
the Cathedral. In front and a few steps lower down lies the
chancel, destined to the inferior clergy and choristers. This
chancel surmounted by a large octagonal cupola, the external
part of which was struck by lightning in 1759, is placed
at the intersection of the transepts and nave; open and
lighted on all sides, one can admire the boldness and majesty
of the columns and basis that support the arched roofs.
The cripta or subterranean place, extending under the whole
length of the chancel, is worthy of notice; it has also been recently
restored. It is of an older order than the constructions
of Erwin of Steinbach; it is perhaps the remainder of the edifice
erected by bishop Werner, at the beginning of the eleventh
century; the shape of the pillars, their cubical tops or chapters,[37]
the arches exclusively semi-circular, bring us back to
those times. This crypta, that remained unimpaired during
all the changes which the Cathedral must have undergone in
the course of so many centuries, forms a nave with two arch-vaults
and a round chancel. All along the walls of the nave
are stone benches. Four of the inner pillars have still hinges
affixed to them which prove that this portion of the crypta
could be closed by a double door. At its entrance is what is
called the holy tomb, a very ancient group of figures representing
Jesus Christ and his disciples on the mount of Olives, at
the moment when the soldiers are going to seize the Lord: this
group comes from the chapel of the Augustines, erected in
1378; it was placed in the crypta in 1683.

The most ancient of the present chapels of the Cathedral is
that of Saint-Andrew, in the South aisle of the chancel; it is remarkable
for the details of its columns and for its ornaments
of a very old style; it contains the tombs of several bishops,
the oldest of which is that of Henry of Hasenburg, who died
in 1190. Behind the North aisle of the chancel, is Saint-John the
Baptist’s chapel, also very old, and being now lower than
the pavement of the Cathedral. Besides several epitaphs, one
here sees the fine gothic sepulchre of bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg,
who died in 1299. The colossal statue of that prelate
lies on a stone and has still some marks of the colours
with which it had formerly been painted; in one hand he holds
a book, in the other was his crosier of which only the lower
part is now left; his head covered with the mitre rests on a
cushion and his feet lie against a lion1. Near the entrance of
this chapel, surrounded by an elegant railing, is the baptismal-font[38]
of sculptured stone, the master-piece of Josse
Dotzinger of Worms, who died in 1449.

The first chapel built in the Cathedral was Saint-Lawrence’s,
next to the North portal of the transept. It was the
oldest parish in the town and diocese of Strasburg; the vicar
of Saint-Lawrence was the first archpriest of the diocese and
at the same time grand-penitentiary of the Cathedral. This
chapel, decayed with time, was rebuilt after the plans of
master James of Landshut, who died in 1495, and was completed
in 1505; when in the course of time it became too small
for the parish, it was transferred in 1698 into the neighbouring
chapel of Saint-Martin, which had been built in 1420 and
then assumed the name of Saint-Lawrence’s chapel that it retained
ever since. Among the sepulchral monuments it contains,
is seen that of Mr. de la Bâtie, in his live time commander
of Strasburg. In this chapel is the entrance to the vaults,
where to this day the bishops’ mortal remains are deposited.

The chapel opposite the latter, on the right side of the
church, is dedicated to saint Catharine; it was erected in the
year 1331 by bishop Berthold of Bucheck who is interred in
it. It was newly arched in 1542 and formerly contained the
holy tomb. The entrances both into this and the chapel of
Saint-Lawrence are decorated with several old statues; in
Saint-Catharine’s chapel is the tomb of Conrad Bock, a
nobleman of Strasburg, who died in 1480; this work is remarkable
for the manner in which the numerous figures that
surround the bed of the dying man, are grouped together.

The sepulchral stones that served as flag-stones or pavement
in the interior of this large building, have long ago
been removed. Besides the sepulchral monuments and inscriptions
already mentioned we shall note the epitaphs of Erwin
of Steinbach, of Husa his wife, and of his son John, at the
lower part of the buttress in the little yard behind Saint John’s[39]
chapel1; also the inscription to the memory of Conrad
Gürtler, who bequeathed to the chapter of the Cathedral his
house, a large building in the rue du Dôme; this inscription
is opposite that of Geiler of Kaysersberg; finally, in one of
the vestries is the epitaph, in german verses, of the celebrated
printer John Mentelin of Schlestadt.

We shall add one word more on the foundations of the
Cathedral. Every one knows the old story, according to which
this edifice rests on piles, between each of which it were
possible to go in boats on canals extending even under the
place Gutenberg. As far back as the seventeenth century,
they dug to a considerable depth, and have since several
times renewed the experiments, to ascertain the nature of
the foundations, that have been found to lie very deep and
to be very solid, formed of masonry reposing on clay mixed
with gravel; under a portion of the nave this bottom is reinforced
by oaken piles.

Through a door on the right of saint Catharine’s chapel you
enter the area of the workhouse of the stone-cutters of the
Cathedral (Steinhütte). These workmen, even to this day
form a particular corporation that seems to have originated
in the days of Erwin of Steinbach; at all events it is a certain
fact that the masons of the Cathedral were from the beginning
a body, distinct from the ordinary masons; that they
have not admitted among them every one who presented[40]
himself, and that they had secret signs to know one another.
This (loge) society of the masons of the Cathedral has become
the cause of many others in Germany; Dotzinger, the successor
of John Hültz as architect of this church, united them
all in one body; a general meeting of the masters or chiefs
of the different loges, held at Ratisbon in 1459, adopted certain
rules and regulations, and chose as their grand-masters
the architects of the Cathedral of Strasburg, where the principal
loge or lodge (Haupthütte) was established. Maximilian I
confirmed the establishment and the rules of this corporation
on the 3d October 1498. At the beginning of the eighteenth
century it was transferred to Mayence.

It has already been stated that at a very remote period the
Cathedral had received rich and important donations composing
the Œuvre-Notre-Dame, the revenues of which were originally
under the direction of the bishops; but as they squandered
them away «leaving the building to decay,» the chapter
assumed their administration in 1263, after the war between
the town and Walter of Geroldseck; however, the canons did
no better and in 1290 the magistrate of the city was obliged
to take back from them the management of the revenues.
The estate and income of the Œuvre, employed only for
keeping in good order and for repairing the Cathedral church,
are still managed like other property that belongs to the city;
the collector of the revenues is appointed by the city corporation,
who also names the architect and sculptor of the
Œuvre. The receiver’s office is in a handsome house (Frauenhaus),
built in 1581, after the taste of those times, situated
opposite the South side of the Cathedral. In that house, where
the old plans of the church and the pieces of the old clockwork,
above mentioned, are carefully preserved, we have also
to admire the light and elegant construction of the staircase.