Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence

According to Provençal tradition, Saint Maximinus, who came from Palestine with Mary Magdalene on Lazarus's boat, is said to have raised a modest chapel here to the Holy Saviour; another legend, fed by a stretch of Roman wall and the columns of the baptistery, held that the church had replaced a temple of Apollo. What is certain is that the cathedral occupies the site of the forum of Aquae Sextiae, on the line of the Via Aurelia, and that its octagonal baptistery, built in the 5th or 6th century, is among the oldest in France. Baptism was by immersion, in a basin said to have been fed by the hot waters of the baths, and the notches for the rods from which hung the cloths that hid the catechumens from view can still be seen on the columns. Around it, the church grew by additions: Romanesque nave at the end of the 11th century, cloister at the end of the 12th, bell tower completed in 1425, then a Gothic nave whose portal, begun in 1477 by Hélion l'Auvergnat and continued by Pierre Souquet, did not receive its last sculptures until 1513. Its walnut doors, carved at the beginning of the 16th century, show four prophets surrounded by sibyls. Aix's masterpiece, however, is in the Gothic nave: the Burning Bush triptych, painted by Nicolas Froment around 1476 for King René, intended for the church of the Grands-Carmes and moved to the cathedral in 1808. In the centre, Moses contemplates the Virgin and Child enthroned on the bush that burns without being consumed; on the wings, René in canon's dress and his wife Jeanne de Laval pray, surrounded by their patron saints.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence ↗

Getting there : 34 Place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance (Wikipedia places the building on Rue Gaston-de-Saporta), in old Aix. Open every day from 8.40 am to 6.30 pm, free entry (Provence Tourisme, citing the Aix tourist office). The Burning Bush triptych is open only at certain periods: from Easter to Whit Monday, from 1 July to 8 September, during the European Heritage Days, from 1 October to 1 November and from Advent to Epiphany.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound