Basilique de Notre-Dame-de-Brébières

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

Notre-Dame-de-Brébières has constituted one of the great pilgrimage sites dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Picardy since the 11th or 12th century. In the 19th century, the pilgrimage experienced a revival of fervour with the whole of Marian devotion. Hence the reconstruction of the church of Albert, created a basilica by Leo XIII who called it the "Lourdes of the North". Built on the plans of Edmond Duthoit between 1884 and 1897, it reveals, according to its architect, multiple architectural and stylistic influences linked to the numerous travels of the master mason to the Near and Middle East (replica of a minaret in Tlemcen for the porch tower, cornice of the chevet reproducing that of the church of Monreale in Sicily). The whole, built in brick, borrows as much from the models of Christian and Byzantine basilicas as from Romanesque pilgrimage churches. The basilica, ruined by the bombardments of the First World War, was rebuilt identically by the son of the architect, Louis Duthoit, between 1927 and 1931. The rich interior decoration was only partially restored identically. The entire set of mosaics is by Polart and Le Breton, executed by Jean Gaudin; the wall paintings are by Bourgeois; the figured stained glass by Jacques Gruber.