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Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix

Cathedral of the Holy Saviour of Aix-en-Provence
Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence Cathedrale Saint-Sauveur 1 20061227.jpg
Aix Cathedral
Basic information
Location Aix-en-Provence, France France
Geographic coordinates 43°31′55″N 5°26′50″E / 43.53194°N 5.44722°E / 43.53194; 5.44722Coordinates: 43°31′55″N 5°26′50″E / 43.53194°N 5.44722°E / 43.53194; 5.44722
Affiliation Catholic Church
Province Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles
Country France
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Cathedral
Status Active
Website Official site of the Cathedral
Architectural description
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Romanesque, Gothic
Groundbreaking 12th century
Completed 16th century
Specifications
Length 70 metres (230 ft)
Width 46 metres (151 ft)

Aix Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence) in Aix-en-Provence in southern France is a Roman Catholic cathedral and the seat of the Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence and Arles. It is built on the site of the 1st century Roman forum of Aix. Built and re-built from the 12th until the 19th century, it includes Romanesque, Gothic and Neo-Gothic elements, as well as Roman columns and parts of the baptistery from a 6th-century Christian church. It is a national monument of France.

The cathedral is located on the route of the Roman road, the Via Aurelia. A fragment of a Roman wall and the columns of the baptistery seem to be the origin of the legend that the church was built on top of a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo. The historian Pitton (1668) claimed that the temple had been dedicated to a sun god, basing his claim upon the discovery of the leg of a statue uncovered at the site.

According to the Christian tradition, the first church on the site was founded by Saint Maximinus of Aix, who arrived in Provence from Bethany, a village near Jerusalem, with Mary Magdalene on a boat belonging to Lazarus. Maximin built a modest chapel on the site of the present cathedral and dedicated it to the Holy Saviour (le Saint Sauveur).

During the invasion of the Saracens in the 8th and 9th centuries, the original chapel of Saint-Sauveur was destroyed.

Around the year 500, under the Bishop Basilius, a group of episcopal buildings was constructed on top of the old Roman forum, including a chapel, a baptistery and several other rooms.


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