Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Die

Die

Die was the seat of a bishopric from the 4th century, but its first cathedrals are known only from mentions in archives. The oldest part still standing is the imposing porch tower, built around 1160–1180. It is at the far end of this narthex, above the door to the nave, that the most singular piece of the building is found: a late 12th-century tympanum presenting a rare subject, Christ on the Cross surrounded by the Virgin Mary, Saint John, two soldiers and the symbols of the evangelists. The south wall of the nave followed, between 1190 and 1220, and the church was consecrated in 1250. Then came the Wars of Religion. Die became a Reformed town, with its Protestant academy and college, then a temple built in 1612. The cathedral lost its vaults and its apse, which collapsed, and its canons' cloister and baptistery, which were destroyed; the tympanum still bears, in its mutilations, the trace of the destruction that accompanied the establishment of the Reformation. The rebuilding, in the 17th century, was almost complete and slow: the new vaults follow the profile of a Gothic rib vault, and the church was consecrated a second time in 1699, fourteen years after the demolition of the Protestant temple in 1685. The very ancient bishopric did not survive the Concordat: in 1801 the see of Die was suppressed and attached to a neighbouring diocese, which deprived the cathedral of the funds needed for its upkeep. It appeared in 1840 on the first list of historic monuments.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Die ↗

Getting there : In the centre of Die (Drôme). Exact address, opening times and visiting conditions to be checked with the Diois tourist office; parish church, free entry outside services to be checked.

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

Ambient sound