UNASSUMING AWE

SAINTE-CECILE CATHEDRAL
ALBI, FRANCE

It’s day six of non-stop rain — exploring the southwest of France is proving far more difficult given the inclement weather. Not to mention the mental toll of an impending lockdown as the threat of COVID-19, better known as the Coronavirus, looms larger and larger with each passing day. Global pandemic aside, you decide to break from the warm and dry sanctuary of your Airbnb in Toulouse and explore the region’s surrounding areas. After a quick Google search, the city of Albi seems to be the top recommendation, and so you set off on your adventure, unaware of the sights ahead of you.

 
 

Fast forward a few hours and you step off the train to even more rain, pissing down at a rate that would worry even Noah with a fully packed Ark. Another quick glance at Google Maps says, "Distance to city center: 2km". Brilliant. And so, onward you trudge through the back alleys and bridge underpasses of the outskirts of Albi in the hope you catch a glimpse of old town as the lashing rain permeates through your raincoat and fills the toes of your boots. A spare set of socks would’ve been a wise addition to the contents of your backpack, but instead you hastily stuffed two bags of lemon madeleines from the bakery near the train station. Priorities are always a strong suit of yours.

Rounding the corner of one last winding hill, the city of Albi is laid out before you. Most prominent is a brick-laid monolith jutting skyward, dwarfing the small row buildings that lie in its shadow. After bouncing around France for over a month now, you’ve quickly come to realize the biggest structures in any city are most likely to be cathedrals and the most impactful representation of a city’s origins. 

Approaching the building, you know it’s going to be a looker, but the brick facade leads you to anticipate something fairly subdued. Stepping in from the increasingly violent deluge, you shake off your umbrella and coat only to be confronted with a sight you couldn’t ever really prepare for. Whether you're a fan of centuries-old architecture or not, it’s near impossible not to feel the psychic gut punch that comes when you enter a place that carries so much artistic and emotionally engineered resonance. You take a seat to recover from the unexpected grandeur and let it all sink in. Welcome to Saint Cecilia’s Cathedral in Albi.

You’ve seen a lot of cathedrals, but this one really is like no other. For one, it’s the largest brick cathedral in the world, a helpful fact if you’re ever playing a really dull game of trivia, but what really sets it apart is its interior. Every square inch is adorned with some sort of fresco or decoration that turns the entire space into a giant illustrated bible. Dark, vibrant hues of blue and radiant flashes of gold explode off the church’s vaulted ceiling, lending a wash of calm in an extraordinarily overwhelming environment. You take a minute to pay full attention to all the details, slowly realizing that you’ve never seen something so old take on such radiant color. Your average cathedral in France sticks to a more raw and subdued color palette, but not this one. This gobsmackingly beautiful Gothic masterpiece has stood for over 700 years and is unlikely to ever fully fade from your mind.

As you make your way through the cathedral’s interior, you notice a wave of hallowed appreciation take over. Maybe it’s the hypothermia working its way up from your waterlogged boots, maybe it’s the seven centuries-old sculptures, or maybe it’s the largest and oldest collection of Renaissance frescoes in all of France—whatever it is, seeing it all under such a brilliantly adorned roof provides a powerful moment of awe. Awe for the people who set out to build such a thing. Awe for the dedication it took to complete its 200-year construction. Awe of the fact that even in the age where each of uscarriesy around little supercomputers in our pocket, just one glimpse of something like this can still knock our soaking wet socks off. 

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A few details:

  • Be sure to take the guided audio tour. It’s a long one (about 45 minutes), but it provides a lot of interesting context for a very interesting place.

  • Entrance into the cathedral is free, while the audio tour extends your access to the choir and treasury section. That ticket will cost about €6.

  • The cathedral is about a 1.5-mile walk from the main train station, Gare Albi-ville. There aren’t many cabs available in the city, so be sure to wear your walking shoes.

  • Toulouse is the closest big city, which takes only about an hour and 10 minutes to get to via train. 

Address
Sainte-Cecile Cathedral of Albi
5 Boulevard Général Sibille
81000 Albi, France

Hours
Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm