The restoration campaign and the preparatory work for the site were presented at a press conference on 14 March 2023. This restoration project in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is supported as part of the recovery plan.
Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Cathedral is a Gothic building built in 1248. It replaced a Romanesque cathedral located in the same location which itself had been preceded by two other Christian shrines. His initial patronage was that of Saint Vital and Saint Agricol. Most of the current construction dates from the second half of the 13th century. However, the western façade and the two adjacent bays of the nave were built on the project of the architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc during the second half of the 19th century. The cathedral was classified as a historical monument in 1862. It has been state property since 1905.
The Court of Auditors' report of June 2022 is based on the elements extracted from the health assessment carried out by the DRAC and transmitted by the Ministry of Culture to parliamentarians.
It reports on the overall health of these buildings and the amount of credits invested by each DRAC over the period 2007/2018.
This notion must be taken in its heritage sense, that is, a cultural property that, without prompt intervention, risks suffering a major artistic loss: sculptures or wall paintings that may disappear due to the lack of consolidation or renovation of protective structures, frames and vaults threatened by major roof disorders.
This meaning is distinct from the notion defined by article L.511-1 of the Code de la construction et de l'habitation, which provides that the mayor may prescribe the repair or demolition of walls, buildings or buildings of any kind when they threaten ruin and they could, by their collapse, compromising security or when, in general, they do not provide the guarantees of solidity necessary to maintain public safety.
The cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand does not fit this definition, and does not present any particular danger «towards people».
The planned work aims to prevent the risks of heritage degradation that have been identified.
Upstream of this major project, and as is the rule for this type of intervention, the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs carried out a lead diagnosis on the entire cathedral. This diagnosis, which included a large number of measurements, was carried out throughout the building and in its immediate vicinity.
551 measuring points have been checked both on the ground and on the elevations, in order to identify and characterize the lead concentration in order to ensure, in particular, that the companies involved and their employees are fully informed.
If the “lead” regulations do not impose any special constraints on the people attending these establishments receiving from the public, preventive measures must nevertheless be put in place for employees who have to work directly in contact with this material.
The diagnosis made it possible to identify all the lead elements present in the cathedral. Not surprisingly for this type of construction, the presence of lead has been detected on all the covers of the large attic, the Jessé tree that crowns the apse and belfry (the cathedral has been covered with lead since the beginning of the sixteenth century), in the composition of certain old paintings (wall paintings, railings), in certain seals, as well as on all stained glass windows (since antiquity, lead networks constitute the structure of the stained glass window).
In addition to the elements containing lead, the diagnosis showed the presence of lead in the form of dust probably resulting from the slow degradation of works containing lead, but also from old atmospheric pollution (exhaust gas
Levels measured are consistent with those expected on an older building.
Since 2017: a new dynamic, the project of restoration of the covers
In 2017, a new
chief architect of historical monuments
, Rémi Fromont, is appointed to conduct the studies and restoration work of the cathedral, under the project management of the
Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
2017 to 2019, several studies are entrusted to him by the Regional Conservation of Historical Monuments (2017: survey of the cathedral/ 2018: evaluation study/ 2019: diagnosis of the enclosure and the cover, structural diagnosis and safety diagnosis), in order to establish health priorities and a multiannual programme of work.
From the end of 2019, security work is being carried out by the ACMH on the cover of the nave, in order to ensure its safeguarding pending the completion of the studies that must allow its complete restoration. In parallel and under the project management of the
'architect of the buildings of France
, regular maintenance work is performed.
In September 2020, the study for the “removal” of the cathedral – identified as a priority issue – has been completed. It foresees an ambitious and necessary campaign of works, aimed at the rehabilitation of all the covers of the cathedral and the improvement of fire safety, in line with the new orientations of the safety plan for cathedrals put in place following the Notre-Dame de Paris fire of 15 and 16 April 2019.
2021 is dedicated to the development of the first phase of the lead roofing restoration project,
with the definition of the operating modes of intervention and the site installations. These studies, carried out in partnership with the Labour Inspectorate and with a specialised consultancy firm, have made it possible to define protocols in order to ensure, on the one hand, the working conditions of undertakings (protection of workers) and on the other hand the safety of the residents by guaranteeing the watertightness of the site.
2023 : start of a major construction site, restoration of the covers.
The building exhibits normal wear and tear on its roofing structures. This wear and tear, which is now significant, requires short-term intervention. In addition, watertight defects have gradually altered the interior coating of the vaults requiring precautionary measures: netting in 2019 in the first western bays, which continued in early 2023 in the lowersides, transept frame and ambulatory.
Phasing and financial investment
The restoration project led by the chief architect will allow the roofs to regain their role of «getting out of the water» of the cathedral. This project plans to intervene on all the cover elements (lead and stone covers) of the cathedral, which gives it an extraordinary dimension and imposes for reasons of both cost, organization, but also of study periods or even of contract award periods, to sequence it in several phases.
Three operational phases are identified, they concern:
1) The western massif which will start in 2023
The operation will guarantee the sealing of the roofs, as well as improve the conditions of intervention of firefighters (creation of access floor/ installation of dry columns). The operation financed under the recovery plan amounts to 4.5 million euros and will last 16 months.
2) Restoration of the cover of the nave’s central vessel.
The operation will start in 2024 or 2025 for an estimated amount of 11 million euros. It will include the restoration of the roofs of the nave, the choir, the transepts, as well as the terraces of the south and north massifs and the Bayette tower. Structural recoveries such as the restoration of a diaphragm arch of the roof (art support of the cover) weakened in 2000 and consolidated since, will be carried out. In view of the size of the operation revealed by the amount, this phase will take place over several successive years.
3) Restoration of intermediate coverings (i.e. stone coverings of aisles and chapels) for an estimated amount of €6 million.
In total, a global project of an estimated amount of nearly 21.5 million euros, with a minimum duration of 6 years, will begin.
In view of the long temporality of this work, a reflection is undertaken in order to allow the launch of operations equally urgent to improve safety, in particular with regard to the fire regulations of the building, as required by the Ministry of Culture, as part of the action plan «safety cathedrals»
The challenge for the teams of the Drac and for the chief architect, is to reconcile this emergency work, therefore by definition unpredictable, with the consequent program of work planned, in a constrained schedule and budget.
Opening of the cathedral: The work that will start in the second half of 2023 will concern the western massif. Unlike the restoration work on the bay on the south side that will take place in the first half of the year, the intervention of the companies will be done exclusively outside the spaces accessible to the public, allowing to ensure the opening and the usual uses of the cathedral.
Construction site installation: in order to intervene on the two north and south towers, a construction fence will be put in place on the entire western façade of the cathedral. The base-vie will be positioned on the north square of the cathedral, Place de la Bourse.Public information: the installation of educational panels installed on the construction fence is already planned.
The RDCA The Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs under the authority of the Regional Prefect, oversees and implements the policies of the Ministry of Culture on the regional territory. With its services, that are the Regional Conservation of Historical Monuments (CRMH) and the Departmental Units of Architecture and Heritage, it ensures, from the site of Clermont-Ferrand (Hotel de Chazerat) the maintenance, restoration, the development of the cathedral and the conditions necessary for its opening.
The MHRC Regional Conservation of Historical Monuments is the department of the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) which is responsible for the construction of the cathedral. It commissions and finances restoration projects carried out by the chief architect of historical monuments.
CMHA : The chief architect of the historical monuments is the master builder of the restoration work of the cathedral. He conducts studies and restoration projects, under the scientific and technical control of the MHRC.
THE AFB : The architect of the buildings of France, of the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles (DRAC), carries out the mission of curator of the cathedral. As such, he carries out maintenance and repair work and is the sole security officer for the public authorities.
The clergy He is the cult assignee of the cathedral. He is the guarantor of the proper use of the building in accordance with the cultural destination given to him by law.
City: Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme)
Building: Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral, Historic Monument classified in 1862
Owner: State
Assignee: Diocese of Clermont-Ferrand
Construction duration: 2023 - 2029
Estimated cost of the operation: 21.5 million euros,
Funder: 100% financed by the State/ Ministry of Culture - DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Project management: DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes - Regional conservation of historical monuments
Project manager: Rémi FROMONT, chief architect of historical monuments
Photo credits: ©DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes-CRMH