Église Saint-Jean-de-Malte

The Church of St. John in Aix-en-Provence, situated at the corner of rue d'Italie and rue Cardinale, is a Gothic Roman Catholic church, the first in Provence. It was built in the 13th century, mostly in the 1270s.

The site was initially occupied in the twelfth century by a hospice and chapel of the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of Malta, under the jurisdiction of the priory of Saint-Gilles in Provence. The thirteenth-century church formed part of a priory of the same order situated in olive groves outside the city walls of Aix. From the thirteenth century it served as a burial place for the Counts of Provence.

In the 17th century the parish was incorporated within the city of Aix when the ramparts were extended to the south and the adjoining lands of the priory sold off to help create the quartier Mazarin. In the aftermath of the French revolution most of the internal furnishings, treasures and statuary of the church were removed or plundered and the church itself converted into a military storehouse. In the 19th century it was eventually restored to religious use as a parish church.

The church is currently under the ministry of a brotherhood of apostolic monks. The nineteenth century organ in Saint-Jean-de-Malte was replaced in 2006 by a baroque-style organ built by Daniel Kern. The interior of the church may be seen in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1995 film Beyond the Clouds.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Rue d'Italie 24, Aix-en-Provence, France

Details

Founded: 1270s
Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)