Wednesday 16th September - The Major Cathedral

Part of the grounds to the seaward side of the cathedral is in the process of being reclaimed to add some flat ground beside the cathedral building.

The Cathedral was started in 1852 and was completed at the start of the 20th century. Its inspiration is Byzantine with green stone from Florence and marble from Carrare.
It is 142m long with a 20m high nave and an 18m diameter dome.

This Cathedral was a rebuild after several sackings throughout history and was originally built in the 5th century by the Gauls, then again in 923 by the Saracens, then reconstructed in both the 11th and 12th centuries.

The interior is nowhere a lavish as the Cathedral on top of the hill overlooking Marseilles but still it cost someone an awful lot of money.
Because it took nearly 50 years to build we thought of our Cathedral in Christchurch. Maybe we will see one built in our lifetime??