Saint-Dié Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Dié de Saint-Dié-des-Vosges) 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 let ...

church and '' monument historique'' of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, located in the town of

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (; german: Sankt Didel), commonly referred to as just Saint-Dié, is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Saint-Dié is located in th ...

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

. 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 denominatio ...

, formerly a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

, is dedicated to Saint

Deodatus of Nevers Deodatus (Dié, Didier, Dieudonné, Déodat, Adéodat) of Nevers (d. June 19, ca. 679 AD) was a bishop of Nevers from 655. Deodatus lived with Arbogast in the monastery of Ebersheim, established by Childeric II near Sélestat in the forest of ...

. Since 1777 it has been the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Dié.

Building description

The cathedral, like most of the town, is built largely of the local red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. It has a Romanesque nave (12th century) and a Gothic choir; the portal of red stone dates from the 18th century. A fine cloister (13th century), containing a stone pulpit, communicates with the ''Petite-Église'' or ''Notre-Dame de Galilée'', a well-preserved specimen of Romanesque architecture (12th century).

History

Saint

, the eponymous Saint Dié,Some sources connect the name with an earlier saint, Deodatus of Blois (d. 525) founded a monastery here in the 7th century and gave up his episcopal functions to retire to this place. In the 10th century the community became a chapter of canons. Among those who subsequently held the rank of provost or dean were Giovanni de Medici, afterwards

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

, and several princes of the ducal

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine (german: link=no, Haus Lothringen) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Fra ...

. Among the extensive privileges enjoyed by them was that of coining money. Though they co-operated in building the town walls, the canons and the dukes of Lorraine soon became rivals for authority over the town of Saint-Dié, where towards the end of the 15th century one of the earliest printing presses of Lorraine was founded. The institution of a town council in 1628, and the establishment in 1777 of the bishopric which appropriated part of their spiritual jurisdiction, contributed greatly to diminish the influence of the canons; and with 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

they were completely swept away. Their church remains as the cathedral.

Notes

Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint-Dié
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Die Cathedral Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Churches in Vosges (department)