Chambéry Cathedral (
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''Cathédrale Saint-François-de-Sales de Chambéry'') is a
Roman Catholic church in
Chambéry,
France. The
cathedral is dedicated to
Saint François de Sales, and is the seat of the
Archbishopric of Chambéry, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and Tarentaise.
The Chambéry Cathedral was established in 1779 as the Bishopric of Chambéry. After gaining the territories of the
Bishopric of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and the
Archbishopric of Tarentaise
The Archdiocese of Tarentaise ( la, Tarantasiensis) was a Roman Catholic diocese and archdiocese in France, with its see in Moûtiers, in the Tarentaise Valley in Savoie. It was established as a diocese in the 5th century, elevated to archdioces ...
in 1801, it was elevated to an archbishopric in 1817. In 1825 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Tarentaise were re-created as independent dioceses; in 1966 they were once again added to the Archdiocese of Chambéry, which in 2002 adopted its present name of Archdiocese of Chambéry, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and Tarentaise.
The building dates from the 15th century, when it was constructed as a
Franciscan chapel. The site is very swampy and the building is supported by 30,000 poles. It became the cathedral on the creation of the see in 1779. During the
French Revolution it was extensively defaced, and the interior was entirely restored in the early 19th century.
It contains the largest ensemble of ''
trompe-l'œil'' painting in Europe (almost 6,000 m
2) by the artists Sevesi and Vicario, as well as a
maze
A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...
almost 35 metres long laid down in 1860-70 and relaid in 1989.
The neighbouring local history museum, formerly the Franciscan convent, linked to the cathedral by the
cloisters, houses a 12th-century ivory
diptych of
Byzantine inspiration.
Sources
Catholic Hierarchy: Archdiocese of Chambéry*
Roman Catholic cathedrals in France
Churches in Savoie
Basilica churches in France
Chambéry
Buildings and structures in Chambéry
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