Versailles Cathedral
Versailles Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Versailles) is a Roman Catholic church located in Versailles, France. It is a national monument.
Versailles Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Louis, Versailles Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Versailles | |
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![]() Versailles Cathedral | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Roman Catholic Church |
District | Diocese of Versailles |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral |
Year consecrated | 1843 |
Location | |
Location | Versailles, Yvelines, France ![]() |
Geographic coordinates | 48°47′54″N 2°7′27″E |
Architecture | |
Type | church |
Style | Baroque |
Groundbreaking | 1743 |
Completed | 1754 |
It is the seat of the Bishop of Versailles, created as a constitutional bishopric in 1790 and confirmed by the Concordat of 1801.
![](../I/Cathedrale_saint_louis_versailles_chaire.jpg.webp)
It was built as the parish church of Saint Louis before becoming the cathedral of the new diocese. The building is of the mid-18th century: the first stone was laid, by Louis XV, on 12 June 1743 and the church was consecrated on 24 August 1754. The architect was Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne (1711-1778), a grandson of the famous architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. In 1764 Louis-François Trouard added the Chapelle de la Providence (now the Chapelle des Catéchismes) to the northern transept.
During the French Revolution it was used as a Temple of Abundance, and badly defaced.
It was chosen and used as the cathedral by the post-Revolutionary bishop, who preferred it to the church of Notre-Dame in Versailles, which had been the choice of the preceding constitutional bishop. Its consecration as a cathedral was however severely delayed, and was not performed until 1843, by the diocese's third bishop, Louis-Marie-Edmond Blanquart de Bailleul.