TheBasilica of Notre-Dame du Port is aRomanesquebasilica, formerly acollegiate church, in the Port quarter ofClermont-Ferrand, between Place Delille and thecathedral. From the 10th century to theFrench Revolution it was served by a community ofcanons,regular until the 13th century, and thereaftersecular.
According to tradition, the church was founded by theBishop of Clermont,Avitus of Clermont, in the 6th century and was rebuilt in the 11th or 12th century after being burned down by theNormans. The establishment here of a community of canons took place no earlier than the middle of the 10th century, under bishop Étienne II of Clermont.
The church was formally declared abasilica minor on 3 May 1886.
In the 19th century, thebell tower was added, and the Romanesque roof tiles were replaced by lava slabs. These have since been removed again and the roof restored as near as possible to its original state. A major restoration programme took place in the church interior between 2007 and 2008, consisting of the cleaning of all the stonework, the removal of cement pointing from the restoration of the 19th century, the restoration of the pictures and the replacement of the lustres (the crypt however was not included).
On Sunday 7 December 2008, the statue ofNotre-Dame du Port ("Our Lady of the Port") was reinstalled in the church, having been kept safe inClermont Cathedral during the restoration works, thus marking the reopening of the building to the public.
In 1998 the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Port was added to theUNESCOWorld Heritage list as part of theRoutes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
The name "du Port" supposedly comes from the fact that the church was built in the "port" district, inLatinportus, here in the sense of "market" rather than "seaport". The church at first bore the name of Sainte-Marie-Principale; the descriptionPortus ordu Port is not known before the 11th century. Nor was the Port district, at least in the Middle Ages, a particularly commercial one: the districts of Saint-Pierre andSaint-Genès were much more so.
The basilica is one of the five Romanesque churches inAuvergne known as the "greater" churches (majeures), the others being the church ofSaint-Austremoine inIssoire, the Basilica of Notre-Dame ofOrcival, the church ofSaint-Nectaire, and the church ofSaint-Saturnin.
Built ofarkose, a sort ofsandstone, the building has an almost perfect harmony supposedly resulting from the application of the ratio of theGolden Number.
The church is built on aLatin cross ground plan with a nave of six bays between two low side aisles with simple vaults. There is atransept with a semi-circular chapel on each arm, and aquire surrounded by anambulatory from which open four radiating chapel, none of them on the main axis, thus forming achevet, which with its fine mosaics is a notable example of the Romanesque art of Auvergne. Thecapitals, which are among the finest in Auvergne, principally depict scenes from the Bible, but also some from thePsychomachia ofPrudentius.
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