Senez Cathedral formerly the seat of the Bishopric of Senez, abolished under the Concordat of 1801, when its territory was added to the Diocese of Digne.
The present Romanesque church stands on the site of several older cathedral buildings, but itself dates from the 12th-13th centuries. Construction started in 1176 and the cathedral was consecrated on 22 October 1246.
It suffered severely in the French Wars of Religion and its belltower was destroyed by Protestants. It was rebuilt in the 17th century.
It is particularly known for its church furnishings. The tapestries (seven by Aubusson, end of the 17th century, and one by Audemar of Enghien, end of the 16th century) were presented by Monseigneur de Ruffo Bonneval (bishop of Senez 1783–1784) to mark the completion of the restoration. Napoleon I passed through Senez on 3 March 1815 and greatly admired them. The church's choir stalls, lectern and altar, of the 17th and 18th centuries, are also particularly fine. It has two altarpieces of carved and gilded wood, also from the 17th century.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).