The Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon is a French medieval church considered a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. It stands in the plaza of Notre-Dame, near the Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy, and faces Musette street in the center of Dijon’s protected historic sector. The current building was constructed from 1229 to around 1250 on the site of an earlier chapel, which was later rebuilt in Romanesque style around 1150. The church houses the image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Esperanza, formerly known as the Vierge noire, and is adorned with two symbols of Dijon: the Jacquemart and the owl. It was classified as a French historical monument in 1840, and the Chapel of the Assumption, sacristy, and connecting gallery have been registered as historical monuments since July 5, 2002. The church is also part of the Burgundy vineyard UNESCO inscription and has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 4, 2015. Historical accounts describe the building as admired since the 17th century and as a work that used new construction techniques, including a roof framework whose weight rests on pillars rather than on flying buttresses.
Nearby Objects
-
Maison Millière 30 m away -
Hôtel de Vogüé 50 m away -
Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy 80 m away -
Le Consortium 110 m away -
Hôtel Aubriot 120 m away
Architecture and Heritage Status
The Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon is a French medieval church regarded as a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Its current building was constructed from 1229 to around 1250. The church stands in the plaza of Notre-Dame, near the Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy, and faces Musette street. It is located in the heart of the 97-hectare protected sector of Dijon.
The church has significant heritage recognition. It was classified as a French historical monument in 1840. Its Chapel of the Assumption, sacristy, and connecting gallery have been registered as historical monuments since July 5, 2002. The church has been part of the Burgundy vineyard UNESCO inscription since July 4, 2015.
Inside, the church houses the image of Nuestra Senora de la Buena Esperanza, formerly known as the Vierge noire. It is also adorned with two symbols of the city of Dijon: the Jacquemart and the owl.
History and Architectural Features
At the site of Notre-Dame there was originally a simple chapel called the capilla de Santa Maria, located outside the city walls before the second half of the century. This chapel was reconstructed in Romanesque style around 1150. The current Gothic church was then built by the people of Dijon starting in the 1220s on the site of the former chapel. Notre-Dame stands in the middle of a popular neighborhood on a limited space, and its construction employed many new techniques by an unknown architect. A notable feature of the building is that the entire weight of the wooden roof framework rests on pillars rather than on flying buttresses, which maximizes the interior floor surface.
The church has inspired admiration since the 17th century. Vauban said that it was only missing a box to preserve it, and in the 19th century Eugene Viollet-le-Duc described Notre Dame Dijon as a masterpiece of reason in his Dictionnaire raisonne de l'architecture francaise. The church was restored from 1865 to 1884 by the Parisian architect Jean Charles Laisne. Contrary to some errors, Eugene Viollet-le-Duc did not restore the church. The restoration aimed to recover the original appearance of Notre-Dame: additions were removed, the lantern of the crossing tower was restored, and all damaged sculptures were remade.
Interior Architecture of the Church
The interior of the Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon is arranged on a Latin cross floor plan. A porch precedes the nave, and a large tribune rises above it inside. The central nave is flanked by two side naves and organized into three levels. It includes six large arcades carried by cylindrical pillars, followed by a triforium with a coffered ceiling that serves as a transit gallery open to the nave through arcades. High windows are placed above the triforium.
The transept is strongly marked. Its buttresses have a solid base and are topped by five lancet windows, with a rose window opening above them. At the crossing, a tiburio rises with a triforium and eight large windows above the transept. Two absidioles occupy the angles formed by the transept arms and the choir.
The choir is divided into four floors. Its basement is decorated with blind trefoil arches, above which is a level with lancet windows. A triforium pierced by seven large oculi follows, and the uppermost level is lit by high windows above the triforium.
The Western Facade and Porch
The western facade and porch of the Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon has been noted by several art historians for its originality. It is also described as having a unique flatness within French Gothic architecture, and it functions as a screen that conceals the church's interior layout. The facade is organized on three levels and measures in height, width, and depth. On the first level, three large arcades form the porch entrance, and the porch vaults rest on two rows of pillars. This porch precedes the three church portals, whose voussoirs, tympanum, and jambs were originally decorated with statues and sculptures, later destroyed in January 1794. Above the arcades are two galleries of superimposed arches, each gallery supported by seventeen single-piece colonnettes with capitals. The composition is further marked by three bands adorned with false gargoyles alternating with metopes. The facade is framed by two corner buttresses covered with stair turrets topped with conical roofs. Although two square towers were planned above the facade, only their beginnings were completed. A bell tower supports the Jacquemart on the trunk of the south tower.
Gargoyles and Restorations
The western facade and porch of the Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon are notable for their gargoyles, including fifty-one false gargoyles that do not drain rainwater. Real gargoyles also remain on the gutter walls and the apse. According to the facts provided, the original gargoyles on the western facade and porch were removed around 1240 after a fatal accident, when a stone figure representing a usurer fell and killed a usurer in the church square. The victim's cofrades then requested the destruction of all false gargoyles. At the same time, the account of the usurer's death and the gargoyles is described as a legend created by a preacher, and gargoyles judged to be threatening to fall were removed for safety reasons.
Some original elements survived. One gargoyle on the upper right remained until the 1960s, when it was replaced. Side and rear gargoyles also survived, and some engravings do not show the upper-right gargoyle even though photographs before 1880 do.
The present false gargoyles on the western facade and porch, representing humans, animals, and monsters, were made between 1880 and 1882 during restoration. Seven Parisian sculptors created them, including Chapot, Corbel, Geoffroy called Lagoule, Delagoule, Pascal, and Thiebault Tournier. Delagoule sculpted fewer gargoyles than the others. The gargoyles are not attributed to sculptor Lagoule despite claims made in 1910, and some later tourist brochures and websites repeat those claims incorrectly.
The Jacquemart of Notre-Dame of Dijon
The Jacquemart of Notre-Dame of Dijon is housed in a bell tower on the south tower of the western facade of Notre Dame. It consists of four metal automatons that regulate the striking of the church bells. Two figures, Jacquemart and Jacqueline, strike the hours on a large bell, while two smaller figures, Jacquelinet and Jacquelinette, sound the quarter hours on smaller bells.
The ensemble has a history linked to Courtrai, Belgium. After the sack of the city by Philip the Bold's armies in 1382, the Jacquemart and the large bell were brought to Dijon. They were taken after the Burgundian victory and disassembled from a clock tower in Courtrai in November 1382, then offered to Dijon, the capital of Philip the Bold. In 1383, the ducal family and the people of Dijon adjusted the mechanism below the western facade of Notre Dame church. The bell was later recast in Dijon and named after its godmother, Marguerita of Flanders.
The name Jacquemart is documented from 1458. The automaton representing a woman, Jacqueline, was added on the right of the campanile in 1651. A child figure, Jacquelinet, was added around 1714 to sound at half hours, and Jacquelinette was added in 1884 to strike the quarter hours.
Stained Glass in the Church
The Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon is noted for its stained glass windows, which contributed to the church in the 13th century. Among the earliest are five lancets in the north transept, made around 1235. The two left lancets depict episodes from the life of Saint Peter, while the next two show three moments from the life of Saint Andrew. The church also received new stained glass windows beginning in 1874 from the Parisian glass painter Edouard Didron, who created a set of fifty-eight windows through 1897. In addition, the transept arms are decorated with two large rose windows on the north and south gables, each measuring 12 meters in diameter.
The Organ on the Tribune
The organ was placed on the tribune in the 18th century and is set in a neogothic style buffet. Jean-Philippe Rameau played the organ from 1709 to 1713. In 1874, the restoration of the tribune required the instrument to be dismantled. A new organ was then built in 1893 and inaugurated in 1895. Its mechanical and acoustic parts were made by Jean-Baptiste Ghys.
The Statue of Our Lady of Good Hope
The south apse chapel of the Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon houses the Statue of Our Lady of Good Hope, displayed on a goldsmith's altar. This wooden statue dates from the 11th or 12th century and is considered one of the oldest in France. It was originally a seated virgin with the child Jesus on her lap. Over time, the work underwent several changes: the seat was removed and the back sawed off and replaced by a piece of wood, while the child Jesus disappeared during the French Revolution in 1794. The statue also lost both hands in the 16th century, although its face remains almost entirely intact.
For centuries, the statue was often presented crowned and dressed with a gown. From 1959, it was gradually uncovered from these adornments so that the entire Romanesque statue could be seen. Originally, it had polychrome Romanesque carved clothing and a light sepia face color. It was painted black in the 15th or 16th century for an unknown reason, but the black paint was removed in 1945, revealing the original polychromy. A slight black tint was then applied only to the face to preserve tradition, before the final black face color was removed in 1963. After that, it could no longer be considered a black virgin, since it shows its original Romanesque polychromy.
Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir and its civic memory
The statue known today as Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir has been closely linked to Dijon's civic and religious history. In the 15th century, residents called it Notre-Dame de lApport, and the name Notre-Dame de lEspoir was also used. After Dijon was liberated in 1513, it was named Notre-Dame de la Bonne Esperance. In the 17th century, the name was formally written as Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir with two hyphens, and it is never called Notre-Dame du Bon-Espoir. The statue is attributed with several miracles, which contributed to its lasting reputation.
Its historical importance is especially associated with the Swiss siege of Dijon in September 1513. On September 11, the statue was carried in procession, and two days later the Swiss troops lifted the siege. A tapestry woven around 1515 commemorated this event. The tapestry adorned Notre Dame until the French Revolution, when it was sold. It was bought by the mayor of Dijon in 1803 and placed in city hall, then transferred in 1832 to the Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon, where it was displayed.
The statue continued to figure in later moments of public concern. On September 10, 1944, the bishop of Dijon publicly invoked it to protect the city. Its association with the departure of the German army on the night of September 10 to 11, 1944, and with the entry of French troops on September 11, the 11th anniversary of the procession, renewed its civic meaning. After 1944, the statue also inspired a tapestry commissioned from Dom Robert. This work was made between 1946 and 1950 at the Gobelins manufactory and installed in 1950 in Notre Dame below the organ, where it remains displayed.
La lechuza on the Church of Notre-Dame
La lechuza is a bird carved on the corner of a buttress of a chapel in Notre-Dame. It is located on the pedestrian street La Chouette, on the north side of the church and choir. The carving dates from a chapel built at the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. Its meaning is unknown, and it is not the signature of the architect of Notre-Dame.
Over time, the sculpture became very worn because of a local superstition that leads Dijon residents and tourists to stroke it with the left hand. As a result, most of its sculpture details have been lost. On January 5, 2001, it was also damaged by several hammer blows from a vandal, which caused an emotional reaction among Dijon residents. Rather than leaving it damaged or replacing it, the sculpture was repaired in late January and early February 2001. The work used a mold made in 1988 by a sculptor from the Louvre, and the repair involved embedding a stone fragment and then patinating it. After the incident, video surveillance was installed to prevent repeated vandalism, and the restoration was officially inaugurated on May 12, 2001.
The vandalism incident increased the sculpture's popularity in the city. In 2001, the tourism office chose La lechuza as a symbol of the Parcours de la Chouette, and the symbol appears on 22 square plaques marking a pedestrian circuit in the historic center.