[1] Documents from the period indicate that the early Christian church contained a celebrated image of the Virgin Mary and child, made of ebony.

[2] The new cathedral and its cloister were built close to the old church, at the highest point in the town, next to a massive rock butte, the Corneille.

[2] Excavations from 1992 to 1995 found vestiges of foundations of the earlier church, dating from the 9th century, These were reused in the 10th century for the construction of a larger church in the Carolingian style; it had a nave and collateral aisles, covering three traverses; a choir with two rectangular apse chapels attached to the lower side; and a flat apse on the west end.

Beginning in the mid-11th century, this church was enlarged further; the choir was preserved, but a large transept was added, with tribunes covering the apse chapels.

On the west side of the complex was the Hotel-Dieu, the massive guest house for poor pilgrims, and the building of the Machicoulis (Named for its castle-like upper walls) which was a depot and kitchen for the chapter and the large Hotel-de-Dieu next to it, as well as a defensive structure if needed.

To the east of the cloister, and north of the transept of the cathedral, was the chapter house, the headquarters and residence hall for clergy, built in the last part of the 12th century.

The oldest structure to the east is a Romanesque portal with sculpture on Rue Grasmement dating to the mid-12th century, which was formerly the entrance of the medieval hospital,[5] After 1375, the west front had to be reinforced by a new buttress, and several of the vaults of the nave had to be rebuilt.

Some modifications were made to the Romanesque features; larger windows were installed north transept, and in the adjoining parts of the nave.

He also constructed a monument to the King of Poland, John III Sobieski, a relative of the bishop who fought successfully against the Russians, the Swedes and the Turks.

It is covered with plaques of coloured marble and decorated with sculpture by the Italian sculptor Caffieri, and now features a recreation of the statue of the original Black Madonna, destroyed during the French Revolution.

At the end of the 18th century, the cathedral was in serious need of structural reinforcement and consolidation, as attested by the Director of Public Works of Languedoc province.

He relocated the main stairway giving access to the building away from the nave to the cloister, where a new door was cut into the west wall.

The medieval rood screen separating the choir and nave and surrounding choir screen were removed, and the interior was stripped of medieval decoration and redecorated with moulded plaster and false vaults, Some portions which were too difficult to remodel were simply abandoned; the north transept was closed and the south transept was turned into a dormitory.

A program of renovation finally began in 1844, under a new bishop, Pierre-Marie-Joseph Darcimoles, with the support of the Ministry of Cults of the French government.

Mallay retired in 1853, but his successors continued the project, demolishing the old chevet at the east end and replacing it with a new version that matched the transept and nave.

It is constructed of white sandstone and dark volcanic stone, Through it passes a stairway of sixty steps that comes up from outside the cathedral through the entrance arcades and climbs to the level of the nave.

It was expanded in the mid-12th century when the church above was enlarged, and given massive pillars, columns and pilasters to form three traverses and three grand arcades.

On the south wall is a Transfiguration scene depicting Christ with Moses and Elijah, and the apostles John, James, and Saint Peter at their feet.

[9] On the opposite wall of the stairway are frescoes from the same period depicting the Virgin Mary in majesty, on a seat representing wisdom, before a curtain held by angels and by the figures of the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah.

[11] While the traditional entrance to the church is through the west porch, the principal exit is through two portals on the northeast and southeast sides of the transept where it meets the chevet, at the east end.

The other doorway, into the south arm of the transept, probably from the mid to late 12th century, and has very ornately carved capitals on the columns and the supports receiving the arches of the vaults depicting sirens and crowned heads.

A large bay and window was opened to the east, and the choir was decorated with polychrome paintings in the vaults and pastels on the walls.

One remaining element of the 17th-century decoration is a carved and gilded panel of a scene from the life of Saint Andrew, by Pierre Vaneau, from the 17th century.

It has two faces and was made by Jean Eustache, with woodwork by Gabriel Alignon and sculpture by Francois Tireman and Pierre Vaneau.

The lowest level of the tower dates to the first cathedral of the 11th century, and originally had large arcades open to the exterior, that were later filled with stone as the chapel rose higher.

It served as a meeting place, school, dining hall, library, treasury and chapel for the large number of clergy at the cathedral.

The south wall has a large mural, painted in about 1200, depicting the Crucifixion, with images of Saint Mary, Sant John, the sun, the moon, angels, and prophets.

It served as baptistry of the parish until the French Revolution, It is at least as old as the cathedral itself, with portions, such as the apse, chevet, and parts of the walls on the north and south of the first traverse, which have been dated to between the 5th and 6th centuries by studies in 2004.

The cathedral also holds the Courgard-Fruman collection of more than three hundred liturgical vestments from different periods and countries, displaying their rich and varied embroidery.

They were commissioned by the head of the Chapter in 1501, with figures of women depicting the liberal arts; grammar, logic, rhetoric, and music, with and notable artists or scholars from each field.