The Cathedrals of Southern FranceMansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
History
The Cathedrals of Southern France
Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
Cathedrals -- France; France -- Description and travel
The good St. Domnin does not appear to have made great headway in
putting out the flame of heresy, though his zeal was great and his
miracles many. He departed this world before the dawn of the fifth
century, and his memory is still brought to the minds of the
communicants of the cathedral each year on the 13th of February--his
fête-day--by the display of a reliquary, which is said to
contain--somewhat unemphatically--the remains of his head and arm.
Wonderful cures are supposed to result to the infirm who view this
_relique_ in a proper spirit of veneration, and devils are warranted to
be cast out from the true believer under like conditions.
A council of the Church was held at Digne in 1414.
XXVI
NOTRE DAME DE DIE
The _Augusta Dia_ of the Romans is to-day a diminutive French town lying
at the foot of the _colline_ whose apex was formerly surmounted by the
more ancient city.
It takes but little ecclesiastical rank, and is not even a tourist
resort of renown. It is, however, a shrine which encloses and surrounds
many monuments of the days which are gone, and is possessed of an
ancient Arc de Triomphe which would attract many of the genus
"_touriste_", did they but realize its charm.
The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin, sheltered a bishop's throne from
the foundation of the bishopric until 1285, when a hiatus
ensued--apparently from some inexplicable reason--until 1672, when its
episcopal dignity again came into being. Finally, in 1801, the diocese
came to an end. St. Mars was the first bishop, the see having been
founded in the third century.
The porch of this cathedral is truly remarkable, having been taken from
a former temple to Cybele, and dates at least from some years previous
to the eleventh century. Another portal of more than usual remark--known
as the _porte rouge_--is fashioned from contemporary fragments of the
same period.
While to all intents and purposes the cathedral is an early
architectural work, its rank to-day is that of a restored or rebuilt
church of the seventeenth century.
The nave is one of the largest in this part of France, being 270 feet in
length and seventy-six feet in width. It has no side aisles and is
entirely without pillars to break its area, which of course appears more
vast than it really is.
What indications there are which would place the cathedral among any of
the distinct architectural styles are of the pointed variety.
Aside from its magnificent dimensions, there are no interior features of
remark except a gorgeous Renaissance pulpit and a curious _cène_.
XXVII
NOTRE DAME ET ST. CASTOR D'APT
Apt is doubtfully claimed to have been a bishopric under St. Auspice in
the first century, but the ancient _Apta Julia_ of Roman times is to-day
little more than an interesting by-point, with but little importance in
either ecclesiological or art matters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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