16 December 2009

The Campanile of the Basilique Saint-Michel


The steeple changes colour depending on light and weather but it's always beautiful and it always fascinates me. The dangly bits in the foreground are a tiny part of the Christmas lights in Menton.

The first church on this site was constructed in 1302 when it was in the diocese of Vintimille. It was reconstructed in the baroque style during the 14th and 15th centuries and inaugurated in 1675.

Saint Michel is the patron saint of Menton. This beautiful church in his name was consecrated as a Basilica in 1999.

8 comments:

  1. Indeed, a most beautiful basilica. The colour of the rock is that soft pink that you have shown us in so many of your buildings. What sort of rock was it again?

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  2. Magnificent!
    Are you allowed to take photos inside? I'd love to see it through your lens. :)

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  3. Julie, I don't know. I'll endeavour to find out. Have waded through the relevant chapters in two books and no mention of the stone. So sorry.

    And Hilda, you can't photograph in this church - at least you can't when they have a guided tour. However I have photographed events in there before but really it needs a tripod for a decent shot and I'm not sure it would be allowed. Most of the other churches in Menton do allow it - all the ones in Monaco do - and all the villages are OK. Just this one church...

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  4. It is a beautiful church. Lovely steeple.

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  5. Hi my friend great to catch up with your wonderful blog again. Hope all is well with you. I have had a busy year travelling PNG with my new advisory job - will continue with it next year so it makes blogging impossible, but do like to touch base when I can with some of my "old" friends!!!
    Have a wonderful Christams and 2010 - gosh where did 2009 go??

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  6. It's symbol according me. What would be a postal card of Menton without it.

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