The main body of the church was started in 1283 and completed by 1430. The tower was completed in 1490. It is 76 metres (250ft) tall and houses 11 bells. It also features a rose window above the main portal with stained glass by Harrison Weltlich (1988). The stained-glass windows, designed by the Polish painter Jozef Mehoffer and made by local craftsmen Kirsch & Fleckner between 1896 and 1936, constitute one of the most important collections of religious Art Nouveau stained-glass windows.[citation needed]
Originally a parish church, in 1945 it became the cathedral of the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg.