Chambéry Cathedral
Encyclopedia
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, dedicated to Saint François de Sales.
It is the seat of the Archbishopric of Chambéry, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Tarentaise. This was created in 1779 as the Bishopric of Chambéry. After gaining the territories of the Bishopric of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
and the Archbishopric of Tarentaise in 1801, it was elevated to an archbishopric in 1817. In 1825 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Tarentaise were re-created as independent dioceses; in 1966 they were once again added to the Archdiocese of Chambéry, which in 2002 adopted its present name.
The building dates from the 15th century, when it was constructed as a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
chapel. The site is very swampy and the building is supported by 30,000 poles. It became the cathedral on the creation of the see in 1779. During the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
it was extensively defaced, and the interior was entirely restored in the early 19th century.
It contains the largest ensemble of trompe l'œil painting in Europe (almost 6,000 m²) by the artists Sevesi and Vicario, as well as a maze
Maze
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
almost 35 metres long laid down in 1860-70 and relaid in 1989.
The neighbouring local history museum, formerly the Franciscan convent, linked to the cathedral by the cloisters, houses a 12th century ivory diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
of Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
inspiration.