Apt Cathedral (''Cathédrale Sainte-Anne d'Apt'') 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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and former

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 ...

located in the town of Apt in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

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 ...

now designated as a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

. The shrine is the relic church of

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

. Formerly a cathedral, it was the seat of the

Bishop of Apt The former French Catholic diocese of Apt, in southeast France, existed from the fourth century until the French Revolution. By the Concordat of 1801, it was suppressed, and its territory was divided between the diocese of Digne and the diocese ...

until the French Revolution. Under 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, ...

, the diocese was divided between the Dioceses of Avignon and

Digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte ...

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

granted a Pontifical decree of coronation towards its venerated Marian image through the former Archbishop of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, Monsigneur Louis Anne Dubreil on 9 September 1877. The white marble image depicting a child

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

is notable for having been a late creation of the renowned religious sculptor,

Giovanni Maria Benzoni Giovanni Maria Benzoni (28 August 1809 – 28 April 1873) was an Italian neoclassical sculptor. He was trained in Rome, where he later set up his own workshop. Benzoni designed some of his sculptures with a production line in mind using ot ...

History

The cathedral is believed to have been built on the site where Saint Auspice was buried. Tradition holds that Auspice became the custodian of the relics of Saint Anne, which it is said he placed in a subterranean grotto to protect them from desecration by the barbarians. The church became a pilgrimage site. The former Queen of France,

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

came there in 1623. The church was the ecclesiastical seat of the diocese of Apt, until the diocese was dissolved in 1801.

Architecture

The cathedral combines a variety of architectural styles from Romanesque to

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. The lower crypt is part of the original 1st-century

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

building, used as a place of worship as early as the Carolingian era, and consists of a corridor leading to a vault where, according to local legend,

's veil was found."Saint-Anne's Cathedral", Office de tourisme intercommunal Pays d'Apt Luberon
/ref> The upper crypt dates back to about 1056 and consists of a small nave (around 8 metres or 26 feet) and an apse.

References

External links

Location
{{Basilicas in France Former cathedrals in France Churches in Vaucluse Basilica churches in France Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Church buildings with domes

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links