Saint-Dié Cathedral () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church and ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, located in the town of

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (; , before 1999: ''Saint-Dié'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vosges department, Grand Est, northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Saint-Dié is locat ...

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, 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, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

, 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. Exploits Deodatus was born about 590 to an illustrious family of western France. In 655 Deodatus was appointed bishop o ...

. 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 rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. 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

, 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

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

s. Among those who subsequently held the rank of provost or dean were Giovanni de Medici, afterwards

Pope Leo X Pope Leo 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 and banking Med ...

, and several princes of the ducal

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine () 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 Francis of Lorraine to Maria Ther ...

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

Notes

Sources

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