Marseille Cathedral

Marseille Cathedral is a Roman Catholic house of God and basilica minor situated in the Old-Port of Marseilles and a national landmark of France. Far from being just a run-of-the-mill church, it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Marseille and the hobbyhorse of Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who laid the first stone of the new building in 1852.

The foundations, commonly referred to as the Old Major, date back to the 12th century and correspond to a sober Romanesque style. Only the choir and one bay of the nave persist today, as a new, more opulent cathedral was built next to the remains in 1852. The new Marseilles Cathedral was built on a colossal scale in the Byzantine-Roman style from 1852 to 1896.