Église Saint-Florent d'Orange, Romanesque church in Orange, France.
Église Saint-Florent d'Orange is a former Franciscan church whose facade is built of light beige rectangular stone blocks. The roofline carries a central cross on a small gabled base, flanked by two lower square pillars and two outer pillars. The main entrance is a pointed arch portal with wooden doors and an unglazed circular opening above; smaller pointed arch doorways sit left and right, with two small niches set into the stone above them.
The building was constructed in the 14th century as a chapel for a Franciscan convent in Orange. Following damage inflicted during the Wars of Religion, it underwent restoration to become the structure we see today.
The church is dedicated to Saint Florent, bishop of Orange in the 6th century (died around 526), the city's patron saint. His relics are divided between Orange and Fidentia in Italy. The building began as the church of a Franciscan convent and served as a burial place for several lords of Les Baux.
The church stands at street level in Orange, its beige stone facade facing the street with a pointed-arch portal and wooden doors. The main entrance is central, with smaller pointed-arch doorways to the left and right. The building and its cloister were listed as monuments historiques in 2018, so parts of the complex may be closed outside services.
In 1561 Huguenots set fire to the church, and eighteen years later, during the Wars of Religion, it nearly fell to a plan to build a wheat mill on its site; only the return of the Franciscan friars allowed its reconstruction. The church and its cloister were listed as monuments historiques on 10 July 2018.
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