Carpentras Cathedral (''Cathédrale Saint-Siffrein de Carpentras'') is a

Roman Catholic 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 ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

and former

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; la, Carpentoracte) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...

, France. The church was built in the 15th century by the order of Benedict XIII. The site used to be a Roman cathedral. Construction started in 1409 and continued for 150 years, with seven different

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s working on the building. The main entrance was built in 1512–1514, then modified a hundred years later, and then modified again in 2000–2002. The tower was built in the early 20th century. The cathedral building is a national monument of France. Until the 19th century Carpentras Cathedral was the seat of the

bishops of Carpentras A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, to one of whom, Saint Siffredus (french: Saint Siffrein), it is dedicated. However, the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

was abolished in the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

and added to the

Diocese of Avignon The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the terr ...

; the cathedral became a church. Nicolas Saboly, a Provençal poet and composer, served as ''maître de chapelle'' of the cathedral in 1639–1643. Louis Archimbaud served as organist of the cathedral from 1727 to 1789.

Notes

External links

Carpentras Cathedral photographs and information at the official website of Carpentras

Satellite map of Carpentras with the Cathedral's location
Former cathedrals in France Churches in Vaucluse Sites of papal elections Carpentras {{France-RC-church-stub