Elevation of the west facade of the old Saint-Nazaire - Saint-Celse Cathedral before restoration.

THE RESTORATION WORK THE OLD SAINT-NAZAIRE SAINT-CELSE CATHEDRAL Projet de restauration de l'église Saint-Nazaire, élévation de la façade nord. Viollet-le-Duc, plume, lavis, aquarelle, 1844.  he abolition of the cathedral chapter in 1790 and the transfer of the bishopric to the Saint-Louis Bastide threatened the state of the old cathedral. The parishioners' concern and Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille's discovery of the tomb of Bishop Guillaume Radulphe in one of the chapels contributed to the classification of the edifice in 1840. Thereafter, the fate of the church was placed in the hands of the Commission supérieure des monuments historiques. In 1843, Mérimée appointed Eugène Viollet-le-Duc to research and survey the church. This was the young architect's first appointment in Carcassonne. Restoration work under Viollet-le-Duc began in 1844. He brought in a team of masons, master glassworkers and sculptors and the contractor, Jean Magné, who was to remain with him throughout the work on the city fortifications. Restoration work continued till 1864. Viollet-le-Duc, rebuilt the west facade, restored the stained glass windows, the nave pillars, the buttresses and masonry of the choir. Wishing to preserve the original sculptures, he had the gargoyles and cornices that decorated the upper levels of the church taken down and restored.

Chronology of work under  Viollet-le-Duc and his  successor Paul Boeswillwald  The old Saint-Nazaire  Saint-Celse Cathedral  The Narbonne Gate  The Saint-Nazaire Gate  The West Fortifications  The North Fortifications  The Restoration Site  After the Death of  Viollet-le-Duc :  Paul Boeswillwald   The old Saint-Nazaire Saint-Celse Cathedral, viewed from the north. Viollet-le-Duc, drawing