Apt Cathedral

Pope Pius IX granted a Pontifical decree of coronation towards its venerated Marian image through the former Archbishop of Avignon, Monsigneur Louis Anne Dubreil on 9 September 1877.

The white marble image depicting a child Blessed Virgin Mary is notable for having been a late creation of the renowned religious sculptor, Giovanni Maria Benzoni.

Tradition holds that Auspice became the custodian of the relics of Saint Anne, which it is said he placed in a subterranean grotto to protect them from desecration by the barbarians.

The lower crypt is part of the original 1st-century Roman building, used as a place of worship as early as the Carolingian era, and consists of a corridor leading to a vault where, according to local legend, Saint Anne's veil was found.

[1] The upper crypt dates back to about 1056 and consists of a small nave (around 8 metres or 26 feet) and an apse.

The marble statue of the child Mary and Saint Anne, granted a decree of canonical coronation by Pope Pius IX to the former Archbishop of Avignon, Louie Anne Dubreil on 9 September 1877. White marble, by Giovanni Maria Benzoni .