Antibes Cathedral ( or ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea d'Antibes'') 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 located in the town of

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

on the

French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

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 ...

. It is a listed and protected historic monument.

History

Local tradition maintains that a pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddesses Diana and

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

once stood on the site, and that St Paul stopped here to preach in AD 63, during a journey to Spain. The Bishopric of Antibes was established c.450 by

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I () ( 391 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great (; ), was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death on 10 November 461. He is the first of the three Popes listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio'' with the title "the ...

, the first two bishops being Armentarius and Agroecius. Presumably it was around this time that the cathedral was first built, and indeed the altar in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament has been dated to the Merovingian era. The cathedral was destroyed during a raid on Antibes by

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

pirates in 1124, and rebuilt on the initiative of Berenguer Ramon, Count of Provence; the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, the oldest surviving part of the cathedral structure, dates to this phase of construction. Further raids followed over the next century or so, and in 1244 the bishops relocated to

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

to escape their depredations. The bishops remained there for the next five centuries, despite an attempt to lure them back to Antibes by rebuilding the cathedral in 1250. The cathedral was destroyed yet again in the eighteenth century, this time by Austrian bombardment during the 1746-7 Siege of Antibes.

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

personally issued an edict for the cathedral's reconstruction in June 1747, and the external form of the building dates largely to this phase of its history. The Bishopric of Grasse was suppressed during the French Revolution and was not restored by the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between the First French Republic and the Holy See, signed by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace–Lorraine, ...

; instead its territory, including Antibes, was assigned to the Diocese of Nice. The Cathedral, along with the adjoining Chapel of the Holy Spirit and the nearby Tour Grimaldi, was added to the French Ministry of Culture’s List of Historic Monuments in 1945.

Architecture and Art

The church layout features three naves and a large organ to the rear. The current facade is in the Italian style, dating from 1747 when it was rebuilt after the Austrian bombardment. In the interior are a number of splendid works of art, the most renowned of which is the altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary in the transept chapel, which was produced in 1515 by the Niçois painter Louis Brea. Also of note are the cathedral's carved walnut doors, which depict

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

and

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

, the two patron saints of Antibes, and were made c.1710 by the Antibois sculptor Jacques Dolle.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Antibes Tourist Information pageLocation
Former cathedrals in France Buildings and structures in Antibes Churches in Alpes-Maritimes Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Italian Renaissance Revival architecture

History

Architecture and Art

See also

References

External links