This Tuesday, October 5, Georges-François Leclerc, Prefect of the Hauts-de-France region visited the restoration site of the Saint-Pierre de Beauvais cathedral financed by the France Relance plan to the tune of 3.1 million euros.
The prefect then chaired the installation of the steering committee (Copil) of the 800 years of the Saint-Pierre de Beauvais cathedral alongside Franck Pia, mayor of Beauvais, Nadège Lefebvre, president of the departmental council of Oise, Mgr Jacques Benoit-Gonnin, Bishop of Beauvais, Noyon and Senlis, Corinne Orzechowski, Reeve of Oise and Hilaire Multon, Regional Director of Cultural Affairs.
Saint-Pierre de Beauvais Cathedral
The Saint-Pierre de Beauvais Cathedral is a masterpiece of Gothic art, classified as a historical monument since 1840.
This jewel of French heritage defies the laws of gravity: a choir considered the highest in the world with its 48.50 meters high under vaults, a 60 meters long transept. The high attic, which rises to more than 60 metres, is an exceptional heritage preserving much of the original structure of the choir (13th century), the transepts (16th century) and the crusade, markers of the great chronological evolutions of the monument.
It was built from 1225, two major phases of construction followed: in the thirteenth century (beginning of transept and choir) and in the sixteenth century (arms of transept, crusade and beginning of nave) but yet remained unfinished.
In 2025, the cathedral will celebrate 800 years of the laying of its first stone.
A final major restoration phase funded by France Relance
The conservation of this exceptional heritage implies a last major phase of restoration. With a total amount of €17,172,519.14, including tax, the operation will receive €3,150,000 in France Relance support.
This unique restoration includes the removal of the shoring that had been installed inside the building in 1993 to correct structural weaknesses. The restoration of the roofs is an indispensable prerequisite for this removal, which will allow a global perception of the extraordinary volumes of the building from the transept.
The restoration covers the roof of the transepts, the transept and the nave span and combines roofing, framing and masonry work of the high parts.
In place in their current state since the 19th century despite multiple occasional repairs, the roofs require a complete restoration program that was initiated during a first campaign of work on the roofs of the choir between 2010 and 2013 (masterpiece Etienne Poncelet, chief architect of historical monuments).
At the same time, this programme incorporates a series of measures designed to strengthen the fire safety systems in the attic by taking advantage of the roofing work. The new fire safety system includes the installation of a water fog system, a tailor-made system developed by the DRAC Hauts-de-France in close collaboration with the firefighters of the Departmental Fire and Emergency Service (Sdis).
The construction site, which entered the preparation phase in June 2022, is currently in the process of actually starting work in November 2022. The work is under the project management of the Hauts-de-France Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs and the project management of Régis Martin, Chief Architect of Historical Monuments.
The context
The France Relance plan deployed by the government, with €2 billion for culture, helps support heritage in the territories, promote the resumption of the live show and the reconquest of our creative model, and to consolidate our major cultural economic sectors.
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