Le Mans - Saint-Julien du Mans

An existing celtic settlement was conquered by the Romans 56bC and named Suindinum. Saint Julien du Mans, to whom the cathedral is dedicated, was the first bishop here upto 348. He was followed by Saint Liborius du Mans, who died here in 397 and was buried next to his predecessor inside the existing cathedral.

In 835 Saint Liborius´s relics were exhumed and - on order of Emperor Louis the Pious - transferred to Paderborn (900kms northeast), where Louis´ father Emperor Charlemagne had founded a diocese in 799. This young diocese suffered, as it had no saint of its own.

From this "translation" arose a "brotherhood" between Le Mans and Paderborn, considered to be the oldest "twinning contract" still in force.

The "Cathédrale Saint-Julien du Mans" was erected over a very long period. It has a Romanesque nave and a Gothic choir. The first nave of the cathedral was erected from 1100 on. Following a fire in 1134, a rebuilding programme was begun, following a different, more complex blueprint. This was partly funded by Henry II of England (aka "Henry Plantagenet", "Henry Curtmantle"), whose father, Geoffroy of Anjou (aka "the Handsome", "le Bel") was buried here in 1151.

There is a clear border between the nave, the transept and the choir.

The construction of the (new) Romanesque nave started in 1136, the construction of the Gothic choir 1217. The transept, connecting both was the youngest part of the cathedral. It dates back to 14th century. The further east to choir and transept, the more "elegant" are the capitals of the nave.