Cathédrale de Saint Sauveur

By Céleste

This morning, we happened upon Saint Sauveur, the cathedral we had attempted to attend for mass on Christmas. The huge doors were open this time, however. We made our way in. Mass was in session, but that didn’t stop the tourists from filing in, taking selfies, and walking amongst the parishioners. We tried to be as unobtusive as possible, and even sat down to take in some of the sermon. It was easy to understand, but mostly boring, so my well-trained church ears turned themselves off immediately.

Interesting facts about Saint Sauveur:

1. It was built over the former Roman forum from 1st century AD.
2. The church was originally built in the 12th century, and has been rebuilt and changed many times.
3. The doors are carved with Old Testament prophets, while above the doors are twelve sightseers/sybils from pagan tradition.
4. There is a baptismal font still there built in the 6th century, surrounded by columns that were probably from Roman times! See pictures below.

Here are some photos!

Saint Theresa, “I want to pass my heaven doing good on earth.” (left) Baptistry ceiling (right).

Baptistry, mentioned above (left). A painting of a wedding (right).

So that’s Saint Sauveur! We saw two other churches yesterday, and I will post about those later as well.