Apt Cathedral (''Cathédrale Sainte-Anne d'Apt'') is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and former

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

located in the town of

Apt Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment. Apt may also refer to: Places * Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence * Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France * A ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

now designated as a national monument. The shrine is the relic church of Saint Anne. Formerly a cathedral, it was the seat of the

Bishop of Apt The former French Catholic diocese of Apt, in southeast France, existed from the fourth century until the French Revolution. By the Concordat of 1801, it was suppressed, and its territory was divided between the diocese of Digne and the diocese o ...

until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. Under the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation ...

, the diocese was divided between the Dioceses of Avignon and

Digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Cô ...

. Pope Pius IX granted a Pontifical decree of coronation towards its venerated Marian image through the Archbishop of Avignon, Monsigneur Louis Anne Dubreil on 9 September 1877. The white marble image depicting a child

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

is notable for having been a late creation of the renowned religious sculptor,

Giovanni Maria Benzoni Giovanni Maria Benzoni (28 August 1809 – 28 April 1873) was an Italian neoclassical sculptor. He was trained in Rome, where he later set up his own workshop. Benzoni designed some of his sculptures with a production line in mind using ot ...

History

The cathedral is believed to have been built on the site where Saint Auspice was buried. Tradition holds that Auspice became the custodian of the relics of Saint Anne, which it is said he placed in a subterranean grotto to protect them from desecration by the barbarians. The church became a pilgrimage site. The former Queen of France,

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...

came there in 1623. The church was the ecclesiastical seat of the diocese of Apt, until the diocese was dissolved in 1801.

Architecture

The cathedral combines a variety of architectural styles from Romanesque to

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

. The lower crypt is part of the original 1st-century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

building, used as a place of worship as early as the Carolingian era, and consists of a corridor leading to a vault where, according to local legend, Saint Anne's veil was found."Saint-Anne's Cathedral", Office de tourisme intercommunal Pays d'Apt Luberon
/ref> The upper crypt dates back to about 1056 and consists of a small nave (around 8 metres or 26 feet) and an apse.

References

External links

{{commons, Cathédrale Sainte-Anne d'Apt, Apt Cathedral
Location
Former cathedrals in France Churches in Vaucluse Basilica churches in France Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Church buildings with domes

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links