Cathedrale Notre Dame de la Treille |
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The ambitious project of building a Basilica dedicated to the cult of the “Vierge de la Treille”, or “Virgin with the Arbor”, goes back to 1854 in the northern French city of Lille, which hosted her miraculous statue since the Middle Ages. The selected gothic style looked for reference to the French cathedrals of Reims, Amiens and Chartres. The initial project was pharaonic: 132 meters in length and a culminating height of 115 meters for the towers. However, wars and economic problems would stop the construction for most of the following century. In the years 1990, thanks to a public subscription, works on the main façade were completed. Designed by architect Pierre-Louis |
Carlier, the building is the result of the conjunction of talents and technical innovations, made possible through participation by the engineer Peter Rice (Sydney Opera House, Pompidou Centre in Paris). The central part of the church features an arch 30 meters high, hang with 110 slabs of Vigaria marble from Portugal 28 mm thick, supported by a network of steel cables under tension. Inside, this transparent marble veil creates a surprising warm amber light, inlaid with a polychromous circular stained glass on the theme of the Resurrection. Completed in 1999, the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Treille is registered as a national monument since 2009. |