Lausanne Cathedral launches 750th anniversary celebrations

Construction of Lausanne's cathedral began in 1170. It was officially consecrated on October 20, 1275, in the presence of Pope Gregory X and Emperor Rudolf of Habsburg. Keystone-SDA

The festivities to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Lausanne Cathedral were officially launched on Friday evening. The ceremony included the inauguration of new interior lighting. Various events are planned throughout the year.

Lausanne’s Gothic cathedral was officially consecrated on October 20, 1275, in the presence of Pope Gregory X and Emperor Rudolf of Habsburg. On the same day, 750 years later, an official consecration ceremony will mark the climax of the 2025 anniversary festivities. Between now and the end of the year, concerts, tours, exhibitions and the reconstruction of a medieval village are planned as part of the celebrations.

Circus show with music

After Friday’s official presentation, with speeches by the president of the Vaud government, Christelle Luisier, and minister for heritage, Isabelle Moret, a performance by the Haute école de musique (HEMU) music college and the Ecole de cirque Lausanne-Renens (circus school) showcased the cathedral’s new interior lighting.

“This was part of a major overhaul of the outdated technical infrastructure and electrical installations. It is now modular, more adapted and refined, with seven different types of lighting to enhance the various parts and architectural details of the cathedral,” Vincent Grandjean, president of the 750th anniversary association and former chancellor of canton Vaud, explained to the Keystone-ATS news agency.

+ Keeping watch over Lausanne nights

Friday evening also saw the opening of an exhibition of photographs by artist Olivier Christinat, entitled “Comme un paysage qui s’invente” [Like a landscape that reinvents itself].

Music at the heart of the festivities

A concert of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony lit by 2,000 candles and a breakdance show in medieval garb will be among the most original events of the coming year. In general, music will be very much in evidence, with a particular focus on choir and organ music.

+ Lausanne organ pulls out all the stops

The programme also includes several collaborations, for example with the Festival de la Cité in July and BDFIL comic festival in May. A “surprise” concert at Les Docks concert hall is also scheduled for June.

The anniversary celebrations have a budget of CHF1.2 million ($1.3 million), of which CHF650,000 are provided by canton Vaud. Other sponsors include Loterie Romande, the City of Lausanne, the Evangelical Reformed Church of Vaud, ECA, BCV, Retraites Populaires and several foundations.

Adapted from French by DeepL/sb

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].