Dol Cathedral

Dol Cathedral Cathédrale Saint-Samson de Dol
Dol Cathedral
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
Region	Ille-et-Vilaine
Rite	Roman
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Cathedral
Status	Active
Location
Location	Dol-de-Bretagne,  France
Territory	Bishopric of Dol
Geographic coordinates	48°33′3″N 1°45′21″W / 48.55083°N 1.75583°W / 48.55083; -1.75583
Architecture
Type	church
Groundbreaking	13th century
Completed	18th century

Dol-de-Bretagne Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Samson de Dol) is a Roman Catholic church located in Dol-de-Bretagne. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Samson, one of the founding saints of Brittany. It was formerly the seat of the Archbishop of Dol, one of the nine ancient bishoprics of Brittany. The cathedral suffered badly from the excesses of the French Revolution, becoming successively a "Temple de la Raison", then a stable, then a warehouse. Revolutionaries caused considerable damage and many treasures were lost. When it eventually returned to being a house of worship, its role as a bishopric was abolished by the Concordat of 1801 when the Dol diocese was merged into the Dioceses of Rennes and Saint-Malo. The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris, which sought national reconciliation between revolutionaries and Catholics. The Concordat was abrogated by the law of 1905 on the separation of church and state.^[1]

The building is notable for its eclectic mix of styles and idiosyncrasies, such as the incomplete north tower on the main west-facing entrance. The tower was begun in 1520 but never finished due to lack of funds. A local myth has it that the top was knocked off by the devil, who threw the nearby Dol-de-Bretagne menhir at the building.

The seat of the ancient bishopric of Dol, the Saint-Samson cathedral dates to the 13th century and is primarily Gothic in style with both Norman and English influences. It was built on the site of an old church where Nominoë was crowned as the first king of Brittany in 850. This old church was replaced by a Romanesque style cathedral which was in turn destroyed in 1203 by the soldiers of Jean sans Terre and little is left of that building today. From Saint Samson in the 6th century to Monseigneur de Hercé, shot at Vannes in 1795, more than 80 bishops have occupied the bishopric of Dol. Since 1880 the Archbishop of Rennes is the Archbishop of Rennes, Dol and Saint-Malo. The cathedral has retained little of the old furnishings as in 1742 the cathedral chapter decided to get rid of all the old bishop's tombs and relaid the choir paving and in 1793 the rood screen which had separated the choir from the nave was demolished and was replaced by an iron grill on the orders of the zealots of the revolution.^[1]

Samson was born in Wales at the end of the 5th century. He became a monk and was the superior of a monastery in Caldey. He moved to Ireland and in around 548 made the journey to Armorica with several colleagues and founded a monastery there. Later, with the support of the Breton king Judicael, he played a key role in the foundation of the city of Dol and its bishopric. He died in 565 in Dol having nominated Magloire as his successor and his tomb was to become the destination of numerous pilgrims and is included in the Breton Tro Breizh. One of the stained glass window frames in the cathedral depicts Samson sailing for Armorica ("Saint Samson fait voile vers l'Armorique").^[1]