page_title: Saint-Pol-de-Léon Cathedral
section_title: Brief overview of the cathedral's main features
hierarchical_section_title: Saint-Pol-de-Léon Cathedral / Brief overview of the cathedral's main features
caption_attribution_description: Intérieur de la cathédrale de Saint-Pol-de-Léon
context_page_description: Paul Aurelian Cathedral was a Roman Catholic cathedral, now basilica, in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, in France .Saint-Pol-de-Léon is a commune in the Finistère department in Brittany in north-western France. It is noted for the 13th-century cathedral which stands on the site of the original church founded by Saint Paul Aurélien in the 6th century and the Notre-Dame du Kreisker Chapel, with its 80-metre-high spire, the highest in Brittany. It was also the scene of the a battle during the Breton War of Succession, where the Montfortists and their English allies defeated an army led by Charles of Blois.
context_section_description: Beyond its great architectural significance, the cathedral shelters a multitude of unusual artistic curiosities.
  The great organ in the cathedral built between 1657 and 1660 by the English refugees Robert and Thomas Dallam. It is composed of 2118 pipes and is a listed monument.
  A 16th-century oak stall.
  Various relics including Paul Aurélien's Celtic bell, one of the oldest Carolingian bells in Brittany and, in a crystal tube, a thorn from Christ's crown.
  32 boxes containing skulls, a reminder of the custom in use until the 19th century, which involved exhuming skeletons from the cemetery after five years in order to make room for the new deceased. The bones were carefully laid in the charnel house and the skulls were locked in small pierced boxes. These were then handed over to the deceased's families, many of whom chose to have the boxes put on display in the cathedral.
  The stone (tomb) of Marie-Amice Picard which contains the remains of one of the most extraordinary figures of the history of mysticism. She died in 1652, and in her day she has attracted the attention of some of the greatest European minds. She survived 17 years without taking any food and was eventually to suffer martyrdom.
  A Roman sarcophagus which is thought to be the sepulture of Conan Mériadec, first Christian king of Brittany, who died in 421.
  The ciborium containing the Holy Eucharist. It is located above the high altar, it has the shape of a palm tree which traditionally symbolised both eternity and the resurrection. There are three similar ciboriums in France (in Amiens, Reims and Saint-Germain).
caption: The nave looking towards the apse
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