Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Bourguet de Forcalquier

Forcalquier

Around 1060 a council convened by the papal legate gave Sisteron a new bishop, Gérard Chevrier, whom Pope Nicholas II then consecrated in Rome. On his return, the inhabitants of Sisteron refused him entry to the town; he settled in Forcalquier. From this refusal arose a peculiarity: the diocese of Sisteron was the only one in France to possess two cathedrals, each with its own chapter of canons, and the two chapters voted together to elect the bishop. Cohabitation was not without friction: in 1216, the canons of the two towns failing to agree, the choice fell to the Archbishop of Aix, and in 1493 those of Sisteron held the election alone, without summoning Forcalquier, before an agreement was reached. The first church of Forcalquier was the Romanesque collegiate church of Saint-Mary, which existed by 1065 and of which only a few elements survive. Notre-Dame-du-Bourguet, a collegiate church in its turn, was raised to co-cathedral in 1408. Its central nave, choir and transept, built in the early 13th century, are held to be the first attempt to adapt Gothic art in the lands of the langue d'oc, on a still Romanesque base. The campanile dates from the 16th century; the side aisles and the second storey of the bell tower from the 17th. Fortified, the church formed part of the town's ramparts. It retains the Maria-Sauvaterra bell, which weighs 1,200 kilos and dates from 1609, a great organ whose first stops go back to 1629, and a listed painting, the Triumph of Christ, attributed to Nicolas Mignard. In 1801 the Concordat suppressed the diocese of Sisteron, and Forcalquier lost its rank.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Bourguet de Forcalquier ↗

Getting there : Place du Bourguet, 04300 Forcalquier. Open every day all year round, free access (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence tourist development agency, regional tourist board); parking and public toilets nearby.

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

Ambient sound