The Cathedrals Of Southern France Part 22

[Ill.u.s.tration: NOTRE DAME _de SISTERON_]

The suppression likewise made way with the bishopric at Riez, a charming little city of Provence. The see was formerly composed of fifty-four parishes, and its cathedral of Notre Dame had a chapter of eight canons and four dignitaries. The first bishop was St. Prosper, in the early part of the fifth century. Ultimately he was followed by seventy-four others. Two "councils of the church" were held at Riez, the first in 439, and the second in 1285.

The diocese of Sisteron was situated in the charming mountain town of the Ba.s.ses-Alps. This brisk little fortress-city still offers to the traveller many of the attractions of yore, though its former cathedral of Notre Dame no longer shelters a bishop's throne.

Four dignitaries and eight canons performed the functions of the cathedral, and served the fifty parishes allied with it.

The first bishop was Chrysaphius, in 452, and the last, Francois Bovet, in 1789. This prelate in 1801 refused the oath of allegiance demanded by the new regime, and forthwith resigned, when the see was combined with that of Digne.

The ancient cathedral of Notre Dame de Sisteron of the eleventh and twelfth centuries is now ranked as a "_Monument Historique_." It dates, in the main, from the twelfth century, and is of itself no more remarkable than many of the other minor cathedrals of this part of France.

Its chief distinction lies in its grand _retable_, which is decorated with a series of superb paintings by Mignard.

The city lies picturesquely posed at the foot of a commanding height, which in turn is surmounted by the ancient citadel. Across the defile, which is deeply cut by the river Durance, rises the precipitous Mont de la Baume, which, with the not very grand or splendid buildings of the city itself, composes the ensemble at once into a distinctively "old-world" spot, which the march of progress has done little to temper.

It looks not a little like a piece of stage-scenery, to be sure, but it is a wonderful grouping of the works of nature and of the hand of man, and one which it will be difficult to duplicate elsewhere in France; in fact, it will not be possible to do so.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

XXV

ST. JEROME DE DIGNE

The diocese of Digne, among all of its neighbours, has survived until to-day. It is a suffragan of Aix, Arles, and Embrun, and has jurisdiction over the whole of the Department of the Ba.s.ses-Alps. St.

Domnin became its first bishop, in the fourth century.

The ancient Romanesque cathedral of Notre Dame--from which the bishop's seat has been removed to the more modern St. Jerome--is an unusually interesting old church, though bare and unpretentious to-day. It dates from the twelfth century, and has all the distinguis.h.i.+ng marks of its era. Its nave is, moreover, a really fine work, and worthy to rank with many more important. There are, in this nave, some traces of a series of curious wall-paintings dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries.

St. Jerome de Digne--called _la cathedrale fort magnifiante_--is a restored Gothic church of the early ages of the style, though it has been placed--in some doubt--as of the fifteenth century.

The apse is semicircular, without chapels, and the general effect of the interior as a whole is curiously marred by reason of the lack of transepts, clerestory, and triforium.

This notable poverty of feature is perhaps made up for by the amplified side aisles, which are doubled throughout.

The western portal, which is of an acceptable modern Gothic, is of more than usual interest as to its decorations. In the tympanum of the arch is a figure of the Saviour giving his blessing, with the emblems of the Evangelists below, and an angel and the pelican--the emblem of the sacrament--above. Beneath the figure of the Saviour is another of St.

Jerome, the patron, to whom the cathedral is dedicated.

A square, ungainly tower holds a noisy peal of bells, which, though a great source of local pride, can but prove annoying to the stranger, with their importunate and unseemly clanging.

The chief accessories, in the interior, are an elaborate organ-case,--of the usual doubtful taste,--a marble statue of St. Vincent de Paul (by Daumas, 1869), and a sixteenth or seventeenth-century statue of a former bishop of the diocese.

Digne has perhaps a more than ordinary share of picturesque environment, seated, as it is, luxuriously in the lap of the surrounding mountains.

St. Domnin, the first bishop, came, it is said, from Africa at a period variously stated as from 330 to 340 A. D., but, at any rate, well on into the fourth century. His enthronement appears to have been undertaken amid much heretical strife, and was only accomplished with the aid of St. Marcellin, the archbishop of Embrun, of which the diocese of Digne was formerly a suffragan.

The good St. Domnin does not appear to have made great headway in putting out the flame of heresy, though his zeal was great and his miracles many. He departed this world before the dawn of the fifth century, and his memory is still brought to the minds of the communicants of the cathedral each year on the 13th of February--his fete-day--by the display of a reliquary, which is said to contain--somewhat unemphatically--the remains of his head and arm.

Wonderful cures are supposed to result to the infirm who view this _relique_ in a proper spirit of veneration, and devils are warranted to be cast out from the true believer under like conditions.

A council of the Church was held at Digne in 1414.

XXVI

NOTRE DAME DE DIE

The _Augusta Dia_ of the Romans is to-day a diminutive French town lying at the foot of the _colline_ whose apex was formerly surmounted by the more ancient city.

It takes but little ecclesiastical rank, and is not even a tourist resort of renown. It is, however, a shrine which encloses and surrounds many monuments of the days which are gone, and is possessed of an ancient Arc de Triomphe which would attract many of the genus "_touriste_", did they but realize its charm.

The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin, sheltered a bishop's throne from the foundation of the bishopric until 1285, when a hiatus ensued--apparently from some inexplicable reason--until 1672, when its episcopal dignity again came into being. Finally, in 1801, the diocese came to an end. St. Mars was the first bishop, the see having been founded in the third century.

The porch of this cathedral is truly remarkable, having been taken from a former temple to Cybele, and dates at least from some years previous to the eleventh century. Another portal of more than usual remark--known as the _porte rouge_--is fas.h.i.+oned from contemporary fragments of the same period.

While to all intents and purposes the cathedral is an early architectural work, its rank to-day is that of a restored or rebuilt church of the seventeenth century.

The nave is one of the largest in this part of France, being 270 feet in length and seventy-six feet in width. It has no side aisles and is entirely without pillars to break its area, which of course appears more vast than it really is.

What indications there are which would place the cathedral among any of the distinct architectural styles are of the pointed variety.

Aside from its magnificent dimensions, there are no interior features of remark except a gorgeous Renaissance pulpit and a curious _cene_.

XXVII

NOTRE DAME ET ST. CASTOR D'APT

Apt is doubtfully claimed to have been a bishopric under St. Auspice in the first century, but the ancient _Apta Julia_ of Roman times is to-day little more than an interesting by-point, with but little importance in either ecclesiological or art matters.

Its cathedral--as a cathedral--ceased to exist in 1790. It is of the species which would be generally accepted as Gothic, so far as exterior appearances go, but it is bare and poor in ornament and design, and as a type ranks far down the scale.

In its interior arrangements the style becomes more florid, and takes on something of the elaborateness which in a more thoroughly worthy structure would be unremarked.

The chief decoration lies in the rather elaborate _jube_, or choir-screen, which stands out far more prominently than any other interior feature, and is without doubt an admirable example of this not too frequent attribute of a French church.

Throughout there are indications of the work of many epochs and eras, from the crypt of the primitive church to the Chapelle de Ste. Anne, constructed by Mansard in the seventeenth century. This chapel contains some creditable paintings by Parrocel, and yet others, in a still better style, by Mignard.

The crypt, which formed a part of the earlier church on this site, is the truly picturesque feature of the cathedral at Apt, and, like many of its kind, is now given over to a series of subterranean chapels.