Saint Louis Cathedral (Carthage)

The Cathedral of St. Louis of Carthage (Arabic كاتدرائية القديس لويس; French Cathédrale Saint -Louis de Carthage ) is a former Christian church building in the city of Carthage in Tunisia.

The initiative to build a Cathedral in Carthage came from Cardinal Charles Martial Lavigerie, who had been appointed Archbishop of Carthage and Primate of the Roman Catholic Church of Africa in 1884. Tunisia was under French protectorate since 1881, but already in 1830 the French Consul General in Tunis by Husain Bey II had received permission to build a Christian church. Preserved in a Byzantine- Moorish style cathedral was built on the byrsa Hill of Carthage, on which presumably the acropolis of the Carthaginians had found, right next to the foundation of a temple dedicated to Asclepius. In that place was also the location of the tent of the French king Louis IX. the saints ( Saint Louis) suspects where he died on August 25, 1270 during the Seventh Crusade. Completed in 1890, the cathedral was consecrated to him and had acquired his venerated as relics intestines, the Cardinal Lavigerie of King Francis II of Sicily, found here their new repository.

After his death in 1892, Cardinal Lavigerie was buried in the cathedral. After Tunisia gained its independence in 1956, the relics of St. Louis were transferred to Paris ( Sainte -Chapelle ), and after 1964, the Roman Church had handed over the building to the Tunisian government, the body of the Cardinal to Rome was transferred. After the building had remained unused since 1964, it was awarded in 1994 as a cultural meeting ( Acropolium ) and museum is a new feature.