XXVI Notre Dame de Die
The Augusta Dia of the Romans is to-day a diminutive French town lying at the foot of the colline whose apex was formerly surmounted by the more ancient city.
It takes but little ecclesiastical rank, and is not even a tourist resort of renown. It is, however, a shrine which encloses and surrounds many monuments of the days which are gone, and is possessed of an ancient Arc de Triomphe which would attract many of the genus “touriste”, did they but realize its charm.
The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin, sheltered a bishop’s throne from the foundation of the bishopric until 1285, when a hiatus ensued—apparently from some inexplicable reason—until 1672, when its episcopal dignity again came into being. Finally, in 1801, the diocese came to an end. St. Mars was the first bishop, the see having been founded in the third century.
The porch of this cathedral is truly remarkable, having been taken from a former temple to Cybele, and dates at least from some years previous to the eleventh century. Another portal of more than usual remark—known as the porte rouge—is fashioned from contemporary fragments of the same period.
While to all intents and purposes the cathedral is an early architectural work, its rank to-day is that of a restored or rebuilt church of the seventeenth century.
The nave is one of the largest in this part of France, being 270 feet in length and seventy-six feet in width. It has no side aisles and is entirely without pillars to break its area, which of course appears more vast than it really is.
What indications there are which would place the cathedral among any of the distinct architectural styles are of the pointed variety.
Aside from its magnificent dimensions, there are no interior features of remark except a gorgeous Renaissance pulpit and a curious cène.