ST. APOLLINAIRE'S CATHEDRAL
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A visit to Valence's imposing Saint-Apollinaire cathedral features a choir ambulatory with a Latin inscription.
It's one of the oldest monuments in the city of Valence. Accessible from rue du Petit-Paradis, this imposing cathedral was consecrated to Apollinaire, former bishop of Valence (492-520), on August 5, 1095 by Pope Urbain II. Destroyed during the Wars of Religion, it was rebuilt in the 17th century. Its steeple, threatened with ruin after being struck by lightning in 1836, was replaced in the 19th century. Its architecture is similar to that of other monuments in the Auvergne and Velay regions, notably its polychrome stone decorations. The cathedral has an ambulatory for pilgrims, confirming its role as a stopover church on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. The heart of the cathedral houses the funerary monument of Pope Pius VI, who died in Valence in 1799 as a prisoner of the Directoire. The building was listed as a Monument Historique in 1862. Last but not least, the great organ, by Lyon organ builder Scherer, dates back to the 18th century and has 45 stops. The organ was renovated in 1985 by Yves Koening. Incidentally, many of the cathedral's blocks are the remains of Gallo-Roman constructions. In fact, in the choir ambulatory, on the second pillar on the right, you can see one of the 22 milestones of the Via Agrippa, dating from 274 or 275 and bearing a Latin inscription. For several years now, Valence Cathedral has been undergoing renovation work, particularly on its facade.
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Mais ce n'est pas la cathédrale la plus charmante.