Antibes Cathedral
18th-century cathedral in the centre of Antibes
Beautifully located near the sea, the cathedral in Antibes has a nice sculpted façade, and is full of artistic gems inside.
This grand neoclassical church stands in the same place as a Roman temple dedicated to Diana and Minerva, where an early medieval cathedral was built. It is also said that Saint Paul stopped here on his way to Spain in 63 AD.
Antibes was an important episcopal town from the 5th to the 13th century, when the diocese moved to Grasse, and later to Nice. The first bishop was Saint Armentaire, who consecrated the building to Saint Mary. It has been destroyed and reconstructed many times, first in 1124 after an attack by the Saracens, and then in 1608.
The current cathedral was built in 1746, after the town was bombed during the Austrian succession wars. Louis XV helped financially with the construction of the new façade. The sculpted tympanum over the door was made in 1710 by Joseph Dolle, a local sculptor, and represents Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian, protectors of Antibes.
Inside, you can see a magnificent altarpiece painted in 1515, a marble Virgin statue from the 19th century, a 15th-century wooden Christ and an organ made in 1860 by master Jungh, among many other things.
