Marseille Cathedral, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe
The Cathedral of the Major or Santa Maria Maggiore Cathedral is the Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Marseille. The Major was built in neo-Byzantine style between 1852 and 1893 on plans by architect Léon Vaudoyer. Located in the district of Joliette in the 2nd district, it stands on an esplanade between the Old Port and harbor of Joliette, on the site of the former cathedral of the twelfth century, where does the Occitan name of Major. Its architecture and interior design, marble and porphyry, give it a special appearance for a religious building. It was erected in minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII on January 24, 1896. Since the fifth century, several religious buildings succeed at this location. The present cathedral, the new Major, rises to the west of the remains of the old Romanesque cathedral, the old Major. But the destruction and the foundations for the implementation of the new cathedral have revealed the existence of a third early Christian church and the largest baptistery Gallic established on the same site. Primitive cathedral, there is not much. Several fragments of mosaic floors were found during the construction of the new Major in the nineteenth century, together with the primitive baptistery. These remains have disappeared and are known to us only by the description F. Roustan left. More recent excavations by F. Paone met other fragments of mosaic in the last bay of preserved nave. Some wall fragments in pink limestone Crown show that the material used was similar to that of the Romanesque cathedral. Comparing these findings with those of the nineteenth century, it appears that the original cathedral was to over 60 m long and a width of 26 to 34 m depending on the width that is given to the ships. A restoration took place in Carolingian times: more sculpted decorations kept to interlacing motifs are characteristic of this period. Subsequently, it is the bishop who Pons I rebuilt the apse in the middle of the eleventh century The construction differs from the original cathedral by the use of white limestone. The old Major was built in the twelfth century in Romanesque style. It had to be destroyed to allow the construction of the new cathedral but, faced with protests, the choir and a span were kept. Decided by Bishop Eugene de Mazenod, requesting the authorities, as required by bankruptcy plan, the construction of a new cathedral is undertaken in 1852. It was Prince-President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte who laid the first stone 26 September 1852. Its successive architects agree largely to historicism. With its apparatus alternately green and white stones, this building Byzantine-inspired (Employment mosaic, domes) juxtaposes Romanesque and Gothic elements. The Latin cross is designed by Leon Vaudoyer in the Romanesque-Byzantine style. The simultaneous presence of spiers and domes is due to the will of the architect to refer to the West and the East, on the model of Notre Dame des Doms in Avignon. But its domes and cupolas reminiscent of churches in Istanbul. Structured as a tripartite structure composed of a monumental portico framed by two towers, an imposing nave and a massive grouping the shrines, the cathedral forms an extraordinary architectural building, which had no equivalent in the whole nineteenth century. The construction lasted 40 years and, even today, coatings planned for the vaults and domes are not all completed. The materials used for the construction of the Byzantine cathedral are very varied: green stone from Florence, white Carrara marble, stone Calissane and Gard, onyx from Italy and Tunisia, mosaics of Venice. Leon Vaudoyer died in 1872. The architect Jacques Henri Esperandieu Nîmes, pupil and collaborator of Leon Vaudoyer, succeeded him and completes the installation of steel structures and realization of domes. He died in turn in 1874. It was Henri Antoine Révoil completes the construction, giving special emphasis to the decoration: mosaics, sculptures, bronze, in the company of Errard inspectors Mouren and Joly. The interior decoration is in marble and porphyry, inspired by Byzantine style. The cupolas and balustrades are decorated with elements borrowed from the cathedrals of Lucca and Siena. The novelty of the decor is mainly due to the importance of the mosaic cycles. He hands the cathedral to Bishop Jean-Louis Robert on November 30, 1893.
Hommage à Dame Nature
Ce film est composé de photos prises au cours de mes balades matinales dans la nature, lorsque les premiers rayons de soleil inondent les fleurs couvertes de rosée.
Parcourir notre Dame Nature en immortalisant sa beauté est pour moi une source de fraîcheur et de joie dans le chaos qui règne en ce monde et je suis heureuse de la partager avec vous.
Ces photos sont accompagnées par le prélude en C Major de Bach, par Morning Mood de Grieg et par l' Hiver des 4 saisons de Vivaldi
Cathy
catherine-coulon@hotmail.fr
Vous pouvez voir les photos qui composent cette petite vidéo sur mon site