Albi Cathedral

The history of the cathedral dates back to the 4th century, when a first church building stood on this site, which was destroyed by fire in 666. A successor building from 920 was replaced by a Romanesque cathedral in the 13th century. Construction of the current cathedral began in 1282 under Bishop Bernard de Castanet and was largely completed by 1383, though work continued until 1492. Influenced by the Albigensian Crusades, the single-nave hall church with walls up to six meters thick was designed like a fortress. The 78-meter-high bell tower was built between 1355 and 1366, with the upper octagonal section added from 1485 to 1492. Inside, the rich ornamentation contrasts with the defensive exterior: Italian artists created France's largest Italian Renaissance fresco in the vault from 1509 to 1512. A Franco-Flemish painting of the Last Judgment from 1474 to 1484 adorns the west wall. At the end of the 15th century, Bishop Louis I. d’Amboise commissioned the rood screen in the Flamboyant style.

Albi Cathedral is located in the city of Albi, in the Tarn department, in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France, at an elevation of approximately 177 m above sea level.

Today, Albi Cathedral can be visited and impresses visitors with its unique architecture and magnificent interior decoration.

• Château de Castelnau-de-Lévis (castle), approx. 4.9 km away
• Château de Mauriac (castle), approx. 17.2 km away
• Château de Cazelles (castle), approx. 18.8 km away
• Château de Grandval (castle), approx. 21.0 km away