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The first stall on the left, looking from the nave, in the cathedral of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is reserved, by law, for the President of France! When the French choose their president, they will also elect the cathedral’s honorary canon.

Thanks to King François I, each President of France has the right to sit in the stall opposite the bishop’s stall in the cathedral of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. When François I invaded Savoie in 1536, he demanded this privilege for himself, which his successor Henri II also enjoyed. Later, the Dukes of Savoie recovered their seat and its attendant benefits, until the annexation of Savoie by France in 1860.

When Presidents Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac visited the Maurienne, however, they declined this honour. Which is perhaps understandable, since Marshal Pétain was “ enthroned ” in Saint-Jean.

The Presidential stall is adorned with a sculpture of a ram, the symbol of male power.

The powers of the head of State
The history of the Maurienne
A tour of the cathedral and its crypt

 

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