Elne Cathedral, Elne, France

The Romanesque style Elne Cathedral was consecrated in 1069. In 1285, during the Aragonese Crusade, French troops sacked the town and massacred the townspeople who had taken refuge in the cathedral.

Work began on rebuilding the cathedral in the 14th century but was never finished, which explains the irregular appearance of the main facade - the tower on the right was built at this time but not the tower on the left, so a much smaller tower was added later instead. The cathedral is notable for the lack of decorative stonework on the outside.

The cloisters were also built over the course of three hundred years, which explains why some parts are more ornamented than others - despite this the closters are very beautiful, with marble arches featuring interesting capital stones surrounding a nicely maintained garden. The cloisters now also contain a Museum of History and a Museum of Archaeology.

References:

francethisway.com

User Reviews

Amer Alhaj (5 years ago)
Top

Jesus E. Gabaldon (5 years ago)
Wonderful romanic building and excellent tour and service. Worth the trip...

Kitty Dee (5 years ago)
Historic, many stories to this town.

Giuseppe Mennella (6 years ago)
One of marvellous romanic style church in the Eastern Pyrenees. In the church there are some Retablos and the cloister is very nice

Eleanor C. (6 years ago)
Wonderfil views Pleasant parking nearby

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Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

Elne Cathedral

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