Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception d'Antibes

Antibes

Antibes was an episcopal city before Grasse. Its first bishop, Saint Armentaire, a monk of the abbey of Lérins appointed by Pope Leo the Great and present at the Council of Vaison in 442, built the first cathedral there, dedicated to the Virgin Mary; excavations beneath the Chapelle Saint-Esprit have identified a 5th-century early Christian church, and tradition places a Roman temple lower still, which some say was dedicated to Diana and Minerva. Altered, it seems, up to the Carolingian period, the church was destroyed by the Saracens in 1124 and rebuilt the very next year; the Romanesque choir and left arm of the transept still bear the trace. In 1244 the bishop left Antibes for Grasse: the former cathedral remained the town's great church. It went through other ordeals: in 1746, during the War of the Austrian Succession, a bombardment damaged its facade, which Louis XV had restored before it was remodelled in the 19th century. Entry is through the walnut door carved in 1710 by Joseph Dolle of Antibes, adorned with figures of Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian, the town's protector saints. Inside watch a wooden Christ of 1447 and above all the altarpiece of Notre-Dame du Rosaire by Louis Bréa, a painter very active in Nice, dated 1515 by Wikipedia and c. 1513 by other sources: the Virgin protects the faithful, surrounded by the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, and it is, it is said, the only Virgin of the Rosary of this kind to have come down to us complete.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception d'Antibes ↗

Getting there : 1 rue du Saint-Esprit, 06600 Antibes, in the pedestrianised old town. Open every day, free access (regional tourist board, Routard); times given by Provence Lovers: 8 am–12 noon and 3 pm–7 pm, outside services (to be checked). Wheelchair accessible. Allow thirty to forty-five minutes.

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

Ambient sound