Castres Cathedral, Castres, France

Castres Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Benoît de Castres), now the Roman Catholic church of Saint Benoît, was formerly the seat of the bishop of Castres, but the diocese was not restored after the French Revolution and was added by the Concordat of 1801 to the Archdiocese of Albi.

The first cathedral was built in the 14th century after the creation of the diocese of Castres in 1317, along with a number of other dioceses created in the region after the suppression of the Albigensians. It was destroyed during the French Wars of Religion.

The present building which replaced it was constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Juliana Hernández Rodríguez. (3 years ago)
A beautiful place, I give it 4 stars because it was under renovation and I couldn't fully appreciate it.

Candido Quezada (3 years ago)
The cathedral is beautiful but it was not easy to find the entrance.

Tristan F. (3 years ago)
Super welcoming

Alain Ragot (4 years ago)
Beautiful baroque style cathedral. It is impressive by its vast proportions. Inside the choir is remarkable with its four marble statues. Note also the picture of the resurrection of Christ.

Paul Cooper (4 years ago)
A magnificent religious edifice which can be appreciated by all.

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Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.

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