Avignon Cathedral

The Notre-Dame des Doms cathedral

View of the choir room

Ambo, altar, choir organ

The Cathedral of Avignon or Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms d'Avignon is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Avignon in southern France and seat of the Archbishop of Avignon . The church is located above the Papal Palace on a rock spur in the north of the city.

description

The cathedral is a Romanesque building that was mainly built in the 12th century and initially only consisted of the main nave. Only during the pontificate of John XXII. in the 14th century the cathedral was expanded to include the side chapels.

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  Cathedral in the cityscape

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  Cathedral in the cityscape

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  Cathedral in the cityscape

In the 17th century the presbytery was rebuilt (1670) and a baroque style gallery was added. In the presbytery there is a bishop's throne made of white marble from the 12th century, on which the popes also sat. It is decorated with sculptures of the symbols of the two evangelists Mark and Luke (winged lion and winged bull).

During the French Revolution , the cathedral was badly damaged and turned into a prison. The cathedral was renovated in the first half of the 19th century on the initiative of the then archbishop and later cardinal Jakob du Pont .

Of the numerous works of art inside the cathedral, the mausoleum of Pope John XXII. probably the most important. It is a masterpiece of 14th century Gothic carving. The same chapel also houses the treasury , in which liturgical vessels and clothes, reliquary containers and cult objects are exhibited.

Since 1995, the cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the Palais des Papes and the stone bridge over the Rhône, known as Pont Saint-Bénézet .

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  Statue of Mary Magdalene

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  Grave of Benedict XII.

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  St. Benezet

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  Bishopric

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Tower statue

The most distinctive feature of the cathedral is the 4.5-ton, lead-made, gilded statue of the Virgin Mary , which has towered over the west tower since 1859 . The east tower, which is also the bell tower today, collapsed in 1405, but was rebuilt by 1425.

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  The statue of the Virgin Mary

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Organs

View of the Italian organ

The organ was built in 1818 by the Milanese organ builder Lodovico Piantanida as an "Italian instrument". In 1860 the organ builder Théodore Puget (Toulouse) made some changes. In 1966 the instrument was restored to its original state by the organ builder Alain Sals (Malaucène). The last restoration was carried out by the Italian organ builder Mascioni in 2004. The instrument has registers on a manual, without an independent pedals. The attached pedal is determined by stops from the manual.

Premier ranked C – g 3 1. Principale I bassi 2. Principale I soprani 3. Trumpet bassi 4th Trombe soprani 5. Violoncello 4 bassi 6th Flauto soprani 7th Flauto traverse soprani 8th. Flagioletto bassi 9. Flauto in ottava 10. Cornetto I 11. Cornetto II

Second rank C – g 3 12. Principale II bassi 13. Principale II soprani 14th Ottava 15th Quintadecima 16. Decimanona 17th Vigesimaseconda 18th Vigesimanona 19th Trigesimaterza e Trigesimasesta 20th Sesquialtera 21st Voce Umana

Pedale "a l'Italienne" (17 keys) From the premier rank I. Bombarde ai pedali II. Contrabassi ai pedali From the second rank III. Timballi ai pedali IV. Flauto ai pedali

Bells

Bells of the Avignon Cathedral

In the bell tower there is a carillon with 35 bells and a total weight of 12 tons. 13 bells can be rung with ringing. The "Bourdon", the largest bell in the cathedral ("Maria de Domnis"), weighs 6300 kg alone. The bell dates from 1854, cast by the foundry Pierre Pierron (Avignon). Other bells date from 1856 (bell founder Burdin from Lyon) and from 1979 and 1989, respectively, when the ensemble was expanded.

Web links

Commons : Avignon Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Site of the cathedral
• Notre-Dame-des-Doms cathedral in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ More information on the disposition and the organ ( memento of the original from March 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Coordinates: 43 ° 57 ′ 5.7 ″  N , 4 ° 48 ′ 27.5 ″  E