Albi Cathedral

Albi Cathedral is in Albi, Occitanie, France and is a defining monument of the UNESCO-listed Episcopal City of Albi and one of Europe’s most distinctive brick Gothic cathedrals.. Sainte-Cécile Cathedral was begun in the late 13th century as Albi developed into a powerful episcopal city and continued through later medieval building campaigns.

UNESCO identifies the fortified-looking brick cathedral as the dominant monument of the city, with later painted decoration, a choir and late Gothic sculpture enriching the interior in the 15th and 16th centuries. A massive brick cathedral combining a fortified exterior with a richly decorated interior.

Its documented heritage context includes Monumental southern Gothic cathedral; it is also recorded as Component of Episcopal City of Albi — World Heritage Site (2010). The cathedral’s use of local fired brick gives it a very different character from the stone cathedrals of northern France. Within the UNESCO property it works together with the episcopal palace and medieval urban fabric to illustrate the religious and civic power of the bishops of Albi after the upheavals of the 13th century.