Toulon Cathedral

Toulon Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Seds de Toulon or Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède de Toulon; also known as Sainte-Marie-Majeure) is a Roman Catholic cathedral and a national monument of France located in Toulon, in the Var department of France, begun in the 11th century and finished in the 18th century. From the 5th century onwards it was the seat of the Bishops of Toulon, and since 1957 has been the seat of the Bishops of FréjusToulon.

The first cathedral at Toulon existed in the 5th century, but no trace of it remains. The present building was begun in 1096 by Gilbert, Count of Provence, according to tradition in gratitude for his safe return from the Crusades. The first three travées, or bays of the nave, remain from the Romanesque 11th century church, and the present Chapel of Saint Joseph was originally the choir apse. The Chapel of Relics was constructed in the 15th century.

In the winter of 1543–1544 the cathedral, the largest building in the city, was temporarily transformed into a mosque for the 30,000 crew members of the ships of the Ottoman-Barbary admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, at that time an ally of Francis I of France. The residents of Toulon were temporarily expelled from the city to make room for the Turkish sailors. At the end of the winter, King Francis paid a large bribe to the Turkish admiral to persuade him and his fleet to leave.

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