Ajaccio Cathedral, Ajaccio, France

The present Ajaccio cathedral was built between 1577 and 1593 and is attributed to Italian architect Giacomo della Porta. It was built to replace the former Cathedral of Saint-Croix, destroyed in 1553 in order to make room for developments in the city's defenses, as stated in the permit required by the Council of Ancients in 1559 to the Senate of Genoa and Pope Gregory XIII in order to build a new cathedral. The final stone was laid in 1593 by Jules Guistiniani, made bishop by Pope Sixtus V.

According to legend, on August 15, 1769, Letizia Buonaparte felt sudden labor pains while in the cathedral. She rushed home to the Buonaparte's home, just steps away, and gave birth to Napoleon on a first floor sofa before she could reach her bedroom upstairs.

Ajaccio Cathedral is built in the style of the Counter-Reformation with an ocher Baroque façade. The interior's Latin cross is delineated by the shallow and modestly-sized transept, which is covered by a dome. The central nave is very high and wide itself, but is short in length compared to the rest of the building. It is covered with barrel vault arches reminiscent of the Renaissance era. The building also has two aisles that depart from the front door and go up to the transept, separated in the middle by the seven chapels beside two rows of three columns.

The altar is in polychrome marbles, a gift from Elisa Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister, and has an altarpiece composed of four twisted columns of black marble from Porto Venere. The Corinthian orders have a double pedestal with a collection of marble. The tabernacle dates from the time of the construction of the cathedral and originally stood at the baptismal font. It was then placed at the high altar and stands out for its unorthodox style.

Ajaccio Cathedral has seven side chapels. The cathedral also houses a large pipe organ built in 1849 by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and later restored and electrified by Joël Pétrique.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Rue Notre Dame 20, Ajaccio, France

See all sites in Ajaccio

Details

Founded: 1577-1593
Category: Religious sites in France

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Maison Bonaparte (0,1 km)
Ajaccio Citadel (0,2 km)

Corte Citadel (54,9 km)
Filitosa (22,1 km)
San Giovanni Battista (54,8 km)

User Reviews

Carmen Lo (6 years ago)
Beautiful historical church. Stay inside you will feel calm and peace.

Felixsta123 (6 years ago)
Inside is very nice but the outside needs maintenance

Frank Rushworth (6 years ago)
Lovely building inside and outside too, so special inside if that's your Religion or your interest.

Stefan Kasprzyk (6 years ago)
Interesting church. Does not have the "wow" factor of its cousins on the mainland but a few interesting curios. And, of course ( pardon the pun), Napoleon I was here...christened, I think.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

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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.

Ajaccio Cathedral