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Origin and history

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame-du-Réal in Emprun, located in the Hautes-Alpes, was the seat of the Archdiocese of Embrun for six centuries, playing a key role as a transalpine stage between France and Italy. Consecrated to the Virgin, it was nicknamed Notre-Dame-des-Rois and housed a venerated fresco of the Adoration of the Magi Kings, destroyed in 1585 by Protestants. Its architecture, inspired by Lombard tradition, blends Romanesque and Gothic styles (1170-1225), with a protiro decorated with penetrating lions and a pyramion bell tower.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840, the cathedral was built thanks to the revenue from the Argent mines of the Argentière and the imperial rights granted by Conrad III in 1151. It symbolized the power of the archdiocese, prince of Embrun since the thirteenth century. His treasure, one of the richest in France before his plunder in the 16th century, included organs offered by Louis XI (1463), a 17th-century altarpiece, and 11th-century baptismal fonts. The miraculous fresco, now extinct, covered a tympanum representing a Tetramorph.

The building was restored several times, notably after the destruction of Lombards (570-575), Saracens (916-926), and Protestants. The archbishops, like St Marcellin (founder of the bishopric in 365) or St Ismide (restaurator in the 11th century), marked its history. Since 1629, the honorary title of proto-chanoine has been awarded to the French Head of State, the last of which was General de Gaulle. The great organ, classified as a historical monument, dates back to 1463 and was redesigned in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Embrun, ancient Roman Eburodunum, was a strategic city on the way from Italy to Spain via the Montgenèvre Pass. The capital of the Caturiges, it became the ecclesiastical metropolis of the Alpes-Maritimes under Nero. Grégoire de Tours evokes a basilica raised on the tomb of Saints Nazaire and Celsus, while medieval texts emphasize its role as a link between the papacy and the Alps. The cathedral, with its black and white limestone schists, remains a jewel of alpine art.

The treasure, exhibited in the chapel of Sainte-Anne, gathers embroidered liturgical garments (XV-XIX centuries), paintings, and goldsmith's pieces. Among the remarkable elements are the archbishops' bearer chair (XVIIIth century), the 15th century rosace, and the choir stalls (XVXVIth). The stained glass, mosaics and altars in polychrome marble bear witness to its past richness, despite the looting.

Today attached to the diocese of Gap and Embrun, the cathedral retains its status as an emblematic monument to the French Alps. Its Lombard protiro, its historical organs, and its mix of styles make it a unique testimony to the religious and political history of the region, between Roman, Lombard and French influence.

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