Sospel Cathedral, Sospel, France - SpottingHistory.com

Sospel Cathedral formerly the seat of the schismatic Bishopric of Sospel, created in 1378. Apart from a belltower of either the 11th or the 13th century, from the Lombard period of Sospel's history, the cathedral was built between 1642 and 1762, and is claimed to be the largest building in the Alpes-Maritimes. The Renaissance façade is from 1642, and contains in two niches the statues of the town's protectors, Saint Hippolytus and Saint Absende. Inside, the principal feature is the altarpiece in carved wood in three panels, containing the figure of the 'Immaculate Virgin of Sospel'. It is by the artist François Brea, of a family of artists from Nice, from the 15th or early 16th century.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Helene Lyt (20 months ago)
Very beautiful St. Michel cathedral in the heart of old town.

Marco Antonio (2 years ago)
Sospel is an amazing medieval town, so cozy, oh yeah, all the way up there to the top of the Alpes and you can go down hills towards the Italian side.

Zak Matten (2 years ago)
Excellent for such a small village

Beauvais J.Sebastien (2 years ago)
Hidden treasure there! Don’t miss the visit in the village and to walk to the cathedrale. The square outside is a pure Provençal baroque style. A real joy and so unexpected! To enjoy it fully don’t miss the baroque music festival first week holidays of July! Les BaroQuiales de Sospel ... See you there!

Emily Barnes (2 years ago)
Lovely cathedral

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright jl.cernadas

Historic Site of the week

Roman Walls of Lugo

Roman Walls of Lugo are an exceptional architectural, archaeological and constructive legacy of Roman engineering, dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The Walls are built of internal and external stone facings of slate with some granite, with a core filling of a conglomerate of slate slabs and worked stone pieces from Roman buildings, interlocked with lime mortar.

Their total length of 2117 m in the shape of an oblong rectangle occupies an area of 1.68 ha. Their height varies between 8 and 10 m, with a width of 4.2 m, reaching 7 m in some specific points. The walls still contain 85 external towers, 10 gates (five of which are original and five that were opened in modern times), four staircases and two ramps providing access to the walkway along the top of the walls, one of which is internal and the other external. Each tower contained access stairs leading from the intervallum to the wall walk of town wall, of which a total of 21 have been discovered to date.

The defences of Lugo are the most complete and best preserved example of Roman military architecture in the Western Roman Empire.

Despite the renovation work carried out, the walls conserve their original layout and the construction features associated with their defensive purpose, with walls, battlements, towers, fortifications, both modern and original gates and stairways, and a moat.

Since they were built, the walls have defined the layout and growth of the city, which was declared a Historical-Artistic Ensemble in 1973, forming a part of it and becoming an emblematic structure that can be freely accessed to walk along. The local inhabitants and visitors alike have used them as an area for enjoyment and as a part of urban life for centuries.

The fortifications were added to UNESCO"s World Heritage List in late 2000 and are a popular tourist attraction.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Sospel Cathedral

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Rhodes, The Island of Knights

Great Spa Towns of Europe

History of Guernsey & Jersey

Historic Site of the week

Roman Walls of Lugo

Looks like you are a history fan!