Cathédrale Saint-Front

The Cathédrale Saint-Front is the most unusual church in the Dordogne, and the surprise comes from its shape. Instead of the long nave and pointed arches of a typical French cathedral, it is built on a Greek cross, with five great domes and a forest of pale stone pinnacles and turrets, and the outline from across the river looks closer to the East than to Normandy. The plan is generally linked with the church of St Mark in Venice, and through it with Byzantine models, and the building in Périgueux is among the finest examples of the domed style in western France.

The cathedral is named for Saint Front, traditionally the first bishop of Périgueux, who was said to have come from the Holy Land and to have been a disciple of the apostles. Legend credits him with miracles, including the defeat of a dragon, and for centuries his tomb drew pilgrims to the town. The church that stands today was largely built in the twelfth century after a fire, and it was raised to the status of a cathedral only in the seventeenth century, having earlier been an abbey church. The Romanesque bell tower, which dates from the twelfth century and rises beside the domes, is an older survivor.

In the nineteenth century the building was in poor condition, and the architect Paul Abadie led a major restoration beginning in the 1850s. He rebuilt much of the upper structure, adding the pinnacles and clusters of turrets that give the exterior its present look, and he used the experience when he designed the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris, whose domes owe a clear debt to Saint-Front. The restoration remains debated by specialists, but it has made the cathedral a landmark. The church was classified as a historic monument in the nineteenth century and, since 1998, belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

Inside, the space is broad and bare, with big stone piers supporting the domes and a feeling of light from above. A large Baroque altarpiece in carved wood, showing the Assumption, adds a theatrical note to the east end, and the cloister beside the church adds a quieter space.

The cathedral lies in the old quarter known as Puy-Saint-Front, a district of Renaissance houses and narrow lanes, and the Rue des Halles and the surrounding streets are good for a walk. The Musée du Périgord and the Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum, with the Parc de la Vésone nearby, deal with the earlier history of the city.

It suits architecture lovers, pilgrims and anyone curious about how the Mediterranean shaped a church in the French south-west. Check hours before you go, and plan on about an hour.