Collégiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Tende, Medieval church in Tende, France

The Collégiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption has a painted facade in red and yellow panels bordered by yellow rectangles, with white floral motifs on the lower red sections and a large round medallion high up. Its Renaissance portal of green stone, added in 1562, is reached by a truncated stairway and topped by a sculpted frieze of small standing figures. Inside, three naves end in polygonal apses, the central one separated from the others by semicircular arcades on green stone pillars.

The present church was rebuilt after a criminal fire destroyed the village; work is said to have begun in 1466 and finished in 1506. The bell tower was already completed in 1462, before the church itself. A green-stone portal was added in 1562, and the painted facade decorations date from the 19th century. The building was classified as a monument historique on 3 March 1949.

The organ in the tribune was built in 1807 by the Serassi brothers, Carlo and Giuseppe, and is housed in an earlier 17th-century Baroque case. The church also keeps the honorary title of cathedral, a reminder that Tende was a bishopric. The green-stone Renaissance portal was added in 1562.

The church stands in the heart of Tende, in the Alpes-Maritimes. A truncated flight of steps leads up to the green-stone Renaissance portal, so the entrance is reached from the raised forecourt rather than street level. The bell tower, finished in 1462, rises beside the nave and is visible from the surrounding streets.

The bell tower was finished in 1462, before the church itself, which was rebuilt after a criminal fire in the village and completed in 1506. The green stone portal was added in 1562, and the painted facade decorations date from the 19th century.