Lodève Cathedral

Lodève Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Fulcran de Lodève) is a church in Lodève, Hérault, southern France. The edifice is a typical example of local Gothic architecture. Lodève is an ancient town of Celtic origin, situated at some distance from the Mediterranean coast. It sits at the foot of the mountains of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, about 45 kilometres north-west of Montpellier. The former Diocese of Lodève, probably founded towards the end of the 4th century, was suppressed during the French Revolution, and was not restored; its territory was instead attached to the Diocese, later Archdiocese, of Montpellier. The See of Lodève was restored in 1877 in the person of the Bishop of Montpellier.

The former seat of the Bishops of Lodève, the cathedral was classed a national historical monument in 1840.

Originally the cathedral was dedicated to Saint Genesius of Arles, a legal clerk in Arles, who was a martyr of the Diocletian persecution, and was beheaded in 303 (his martyrdom is represented on the keystone of the vault of the apse). Since 1410 the cathedral has been dedicated to Saint Fulcran, who as bishop of Lodève restored the cathedral in the 10th century.

Some traces of previous buildings are preserved in the crypt. The first cathedral from the time of the foundation of the diocese towards the end of the 4th century remains unknown. Some capitals of the 6th to the 8th centuries, now in the Musée Fleury, imply building from the time of the rule of the Visigoths. The exterior walls of the crypt also seem to date from that period. In the 10th century Saint Fulcran had the cathedral either rebuilt or extended, and reconsecrated it in 975. The doubling of the crypt walls towards the exterior and its vault were part of this structure.

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