Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Vintium

Vence was known in Roman times as "Vintium". It was the seat of a bishop as early as 419. Parts of the cathedral date back to early Merovingian times. The first church, built over the foundation of a Roman temple, was probably destroyed by the Lombards. It was rebuilt, damaged, destroyed many times over the century - and by now is a mixture of different styles from Carolingian to late baroque. The stalls were once used by the Canons of the cathedral. Jaques Bellot from Grasse carved them around 1460. Strange that the prudish vandal who seemed the be strongly offended by a nude mermaid (see previous upload), let this carving untouched.

Vence was known in Roman times as "Vintium". It was the seat of a bishop as early as 419. Parts of the cathedral date back to early Merovingian times. The first church, built over the foundation of a Roman temple, was probably destroyed by the Lombards. It was rebuilt, damaged, destroyed many times over the century - and by now is a mixture of different styles from Carolingian to late baroque. The stalls were once used by the Canons of the cathedral. Jaques Bellot from Grasse carved them around 1460. Later some very prudish vandal took a great effort in chiselling off all womanly parts of this mermaid.

Vence was known in Roman times as "Vintium". It was the seat of a bishop as early as 419. Parts of the cathedral date back to early Merovingian times. The first church, built over the foundation of a Roman temple, was probably destroyed by the Lombards. It was rebuilt, damaged, destroyed many times over the century - and by now is a mixture of different styles from Carolingian to late baroque. Shown on the backside of this medieval reliquary is the scene of the flagellation.

Vence was known in Roman times as "Vintium". It was the seat of a bishop as early as 419. Parts of the cathedral date back to early Merovingian times. The first church, built over the foundation of a Roman temple, was probably destroyed by the Lombards. It was rebuilt, damaged, destroyed many times over the century - and by now is a mixture of different styles from Carolingian to late baroque. Here is one of the Carolingian carvings that are now placed on the columns. Note the details, there are birds, grapes, flowers..

Vence was known in Roman times as "Vintium". It was the seat of a bishop as early as 419. Parts of the cathedral date back to early Merovingian times. The first church, built over the foundation of a Roman temple, was probably destroyed by the Lombards. It was rebuilt, damaged, destroyed many times over the century - and by now is a mixture of different styles from Carolingian to late baroque.

Vence was known in Roman times as "Vintium". It was the seat of a bishop as early as 419. Parts of the cathedral date back to early Merovingian times. The first church, built over the foundation of a Roman temple, was probably destroyed by the Lombards. It was rebuilt, damaged, destroyed many times over the century - and by now is a mixture of different styles from Carolingian to late baroque. Vence is located in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes between Nice and Antibes. The area all along the Côte d’Azur is a paradise for real estate agents, as many people would like to live here - but only a few can afford. I was surprised that even the toilets are on the market meanwhile.

I took a photo here already, as this is just east of the "Cathedral of Vence", have a look: www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/5569508742/ This is the northern side of the former cemetry. In the center stands the grey basalt column, that was given to the Mars-temple of Vintium (Vence) from the population of Massalia (Marseille) in 230 aC. The residential building behind is from the 13th century. The arcade-window is not a fake. There are about 1000 years of history between the roman column and the romanesque house.

Standing on the place, that was the cemetery upto 1780, seeing the cathedral of Vence from the east. Now, the romanesque structure of the cathedral is obvious. The tower was, when it was constructed 12th/13th century not connected to the church structure. The "Tour de Lambert" to the west of the cathedral looked probably very similar, before it underwent a couple of "renovations". There is a grey basalt column in the center of the square, that is even older than the cathedral. It is one of two columns, given to the Mars-temple in Vintium (Vence) by people from Massalia (Marseille) in 230 aC. The second column exists as well - on another square in Vence. Here is the nothern side of the square: www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/5571990931/