The primatial Saint-André cathedral of Bordeaux, located on Pey-Berland place is Bordeaux's most imposing place of worship. It is the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Bordeaux. It was consecrated on May 1, 1096 by Pope Urban II, on a tour to preach the First Crusade. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style between the 11th and 16th centuries. The church was the setting for two royal weddings: in 1137, the marriage of fifteen-year-old Eleanor of Aquitaine to the future Louis VII, King of the Franks, and in November 1615, the marriage of Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain, to Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre.
As the cathedral was built on marshy ground, it could not be equipped with imposing bells (as their vibrations could threaten its structure), so a separate bell tower had to be built.
This bell tower (Pey-Berland Tower) was built in 1440 and completed in 1500 on the initiative of the archbishop of the same name (Pierre Berland).
The spire, truncated by a storm that generated hurricane-force winds in the 18th century, is now topped by a gilded statue of the Virgin and Child called Notre-Dame d'Aquitaine (created by Jean-Alexandre Chertier and installed in 1863).
The tower has a Latin inscription inlaid into its north face:
"1 Disquadram quicumque oculis Turrim aspicis aequis,
2 Mille quadringentis quadraginta labentibus annis,
3 Felicibus coeptam auspiciis, nonasque secundo
4 Octobris, tantum certo scito esse profundam,
5 Fons quoque prosiliens quantum tenet. Huic quoque primum
6 Subjecit lapidem Petrus Archipraesul in urbe
7 Burdigalae, cujus plebs collaetetur in aevum."
Which in English reads:
"1 Whoever you are who looks kindly on this unsquare tower
2 whose construction after 1440 years (since Jesus Christ)
3 was begun under happy auspices on the eve of the Nones
4 of October: be sure to know that it is as high
5 as the distance from which the nearby fountain springs. He also laid
6 Pierre, archbishop of the city of
7 Bordeaux. Its population will rejoice forever."
(Wikipedia)
The 66-meter-high tower houses four bells:
- Bell 1 (Ferdinand-André II): founded by Ernest Bollée in 1869 in Le Mans, it weighs around 8350 kg and sounds F#2 (Fis°), replacing the old Ferdinand-André (which weighed 11,000 kg / cast by Napoléon III and Eugénie de Montijo), as it cracked on arrival in Bordeaux.
- Bell 2 (Marie II): also founded by Ernest Bollée in Le Mans (in 1853), Marie II weighs around 4375 kg and sounds A2 (A°).
- Bell 3 (Marguerite): Weighing 2500kg, this bell was founded by Elie Deyres in Bordeaux (in 1853) and sounds C#3 (Cis').
- Bell 4 (Clémence): founded (in 1853) by Ernest Bollée in Le Mans, this is the smallest of the cathedral's 4 bells. It weighs 880 kg and rings F#3 (Fis'). It is this bell that rings the Angelus.
At the bottom of the tower are the cathedral's old small bells.
The video was taken on May 29, 2024 at 4:10 p.m.
List:
0:05: Clémence
3:28: Marguerite
9:35: Ferdinand-André II
21:15: Ferdinand-André II
27:40: Ferdinand-André II and Marie II
34:00: last quarter-hour tinkle
36:28: Mass bell 5:45 p.m. (Clémence's volley)
28 сен 2024
