Agde Cathedral

Agde Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne d'Agde) is a Roman Catholic church located in Agde in the Hérault département of southern France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen, and stands on the bank of the Hérault River.

It was formerly the seat of the Bishops of Agde, the last of whom, Charles-François-Siméon de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon de Vermandois de Sandricourt, was guillotined during the Terror. The see was not restored after the French Revolution and by the Concordat of 1801 its parishes were added to the Diocese of Montpellier.

The present building was constructed in the 12th century, beginning in 1173 under the direction of bishop William II of Agde, and replaced a Carolingian church of the 9th century that stood on the foundations of a 5th-century Roman church, formerly a temple of Diana.

The cathedral is remarkable for being built of black basalt from the nearby volcanic Mont St. Loup quarries. The building is extremely strong and was designed to serve as a fortress as much as a church: the walls are between 2 and 3 metres thick, and the square tower, 35 metres high, could also function as a keep, or donjon. The crenellations and machicolations are very prominent, and again, more characteristic of a fortress than of a church. It was declared a monument historique in 1840.

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