It stands a far more impressive and inspiring sentinel at the water-gate of the city than does the ludicrously fashioned modern "sailors' church" of Notre Dame de la Gard, which is perched in unstable fashion on a pinnacle of rock on the opposite side of the harbour. This "curiosity"--for it is hardly more--is reached by a cable-lift or funicular railway, which seems principally to be conducted for the delectation of those winter birds of passage yclept "Riviera tourists." The true pilgrim, the sailor who leaves a votive offering, or his wife or sweetheart, who goes there to pray for his safety, journeys on foot by an abrupt, stony road,--as one truly devout should. This sumptuous cathedral will not please every one, but it cannot be denied that it is an admirably planned and wonderfully executed _neo-Byzantine_ work. In size it is really vast, though its chief remarkable dimension is its breadth. Its length is four hundred and sixty feet. At the crossing is a dome which rises to one hundred and ninety-seven feet, while two smaller ones are at each end of the transept, and yet others, smaller still, above the various chapels. The general effect of the interior is--as might be expected--_grandoise_. There is an immensely wide central nave, flanked by two others of only appreciably reduced proportions. Above the side aisles are galleries extending to the transepts. The decorations of mosaic, glass, and mural painting have been the work of the foremost artists of modern times, and have been long in execution. The entire period of construction extended practically over the last half of the nineteenth century. The plans were by Léon Vaudoyer, who was succeeded by one Espérandieu, and again by Henri Rêvoil. The entire detail work may not even yet be presumed to have been completed, but still the cathedral stands to-day as the one distinct and complete achievement of its class within the memory of living man. The pillars of the nave, so great is their number and so just and true their disposition, form a really decorative effect in themselves. The choir is very long and is terminated with a domed apse, with domed chapels radiating therefrom in a symmetrical and beautiful manner. The episcopal residence is immediately to the right of the cathedral, on the Place de la Major. Marseilles has been the seat of a bishop since the days of St. Lazare in the first century. It was formerly a suffragan of Arles in the Province d'Arles, as it is to-day, but its jurisdiction is confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the city. IX ST. PIERRE D'ALET In St. Pierre d'Alet was a former cathedral of a very early date; perhaps as early as the ninth century, though the edifice was entirely rebuilt in the eleventh. To-day, even this structure--which is not to be wondered at--is in ruins. There was an ancient abbey here in the ninth century, but the bishopric was not founded until 1318, and was suppressed in 1790.