Notre Dame du Bourg Cathedral

Mentioned for the first time in 1180, the Notre Dame du Bourg cathedral is one of the most beautiful romanesque churches in Provence, thanks to its unique nave and its four large bays. It was classified as a Historical Monument in 1840.

The construction of the Notre-Dame du Bourg cathedral dates back to the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century. It was built following a succession of christian buildings located, surprisingly, on a pagan cemetery.
It was erected on the foundations of a 5th century primitive basilica, at the centre of the old city, as the population is already leaving. As a matter of fact, during the 10th century, the population of Digne-les-Bains starts moving to the Bellegarde plateau to protect themselves from attacks and invasions. The Bourg area is deserted in favour of the higher city, protected by the bishop castle. Isolated and vulnerable, Notre-Dame du Bourg endures lootings and degradations. Its usage is in decline since the 14th century and is limited to funerals until the 20th century, whereas the Saint-Jérôme church located in the new city becomes a substitute building and is recognized as a co-cathedral in 1962.
Of roman art with a regular schist stone wall, local material, the cathedral of Notre-Dame du Bourg is imposing by its size and its majestic and sober architecture. Its unique barrel-vaulted nave as well as paintings dated 1480 adorning it highlight how singular it is. Excavated by Gabrielle Démians d’Archimbaud, archaeologist and medieval history professor at the Letters and Human Science University of Aix-en-Provence and restored by Francesco Flavigny, head architect of historical monuments during the 1980 and 1990 decades, it is home to a part of the archaeological crypt and a liturgical set made by a contemporary artist, David Rabinowitch. It regained its function of cathedral in 1996.