The Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul (french: Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Paul de Tunis) 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
* Chris ...
located in
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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,
Tunisia
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, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
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, ...
. The
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 denomination ...
is dedicated to Saint
Vincent de Paul
Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...
,
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of charity. It is the
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
of the
Archdiocese of Tunis and is situated at Place de l'Indépendence in Ville Nouvelle, a crossroads between
Avenue Habib Bourguiba
Avenue Habib Bourguiba ( aeb, شارع حبيب بورڨيبة) is the central thoroughfare of Tunis, and the historical political and economic heart of Tunisia. It is named for Habib Bourguiba, the first President of Tunisia and the national leade ...
and Avenue de France, opposite the French embassy.
The church, designed by L. Bonnet-Labranche, was built in a mixture of styles, including
Moorish revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...
,
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
, and
Neo-Byzantine
Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthod ...
architectural traditions. The cornerstone was laid in 1890, and construction began in 1893. The church was opened on
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
in 1897, albeit without its
belltower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
s owing to a shortage of funds. The reinforced concrete towers were completed in 1910 using the Hennebique technique.
Cardinal
Charles Lavigerie
Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie (31 October 1825 – 26 November 1892) was a French cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis, archbishop of Carthage and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Algiers, Algiers and primate of A ...
laid the first stone for a church on 7 November 1881, a little further down Avenue de la Marine (now Avenue Habib Bourguiba). This was a
pro-cathedral
A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic ...
; the cathedral of the
archdiocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
(then called
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
) being the
Saint Louis Cathedral.
The pro-cathedral was built quickly, but its condition soon deteriorated due to the adverse ground conditions, necessitating the construction of the current cathedral.
The number of Roman Catholics in Tunisia fell rapidly following Tunisian independence from France. A
modus vivendi
''Modus vivendi'' (plural ''modi vivendi'') is a Latin phrase that means "mode of living" or " way of life". It often is used to mean an arrangement or agreement that allows conflicting parties to coexist in peace. In science, it is used to descr ...
reached between the Republic of Tunisia and the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
in 1964 resulted in the transfer of selected buildings to the Tunisian state for public use, including the
Acropolium of Carthage
The Acropolium, also known as Saint Louis Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Carthage), is a former Roman Catholic church located in Carthage, Tunisia.
The cathedral sits on the peak of Byrsa Hill, near the ruins of the ancient Punic a ...
in Carthage. However, the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul remains under the ownership and operation of the
Roman Catholic Church in Tunisia.
See also
*
Chapelle Saint-Louis de Carthage
The Chapelle Saint-Louis de Carthage was a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in Carthage, Tunisia. It was built between 1840 and 1841 on land donated by the Bey of Tunis to the King of France in 1830. The chapel was located atop B ...
Notes
External links
{{Commons category, Cathedral Saint-Vincent-de-Paul of Tunis
Archdiocese of Tunis page
Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul onstructurae
Structurae is an online database containing pictures and information about structural engineering, structural and civil engineering works, and their associated engineers, architects, and builders. Its entries are user-generated content, contribu ...
Churches completed in 1897
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings
Vincent de Paul
Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...
Religious buildings and structures in Tunis
Byzantine Revival architecture in Tunisia
Gothic Revival church buildings in Tunisia
Moorish Revival architecture