f the Renaissance of the interior, the
feeling of this apse is quite truly ancient and pagan, and it is not
less unique nor less charming because it is placed against a plain,
uninteresting wall. The eye travelling upward, above the choir-dome,
meets the lantern with its rounded windows and pointed roof, and by its
side the high little bell-turret which completes a curious exterior; an
exterior which is interesting and even beautiful in detail, but
irregular and heterogeneous as a whole.

The Cathedral of Cavaillon is one of many possibilities. Although small
like those of its Provencal kindred, it has more dignity than Orange,
more simplicity of interior line than the present Avignon, and it is to
be regretted that it should have suffered no less from restoration than
from old age.

[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL'S TOWER AND TURRET.--CAVAILLON.]

[Sidenote: Apt.]

Few of the Cathedral-churches of the Midi are without holy relics, but
none is more famous, more revered, and more authentic a place of
pilgrimage than the Basilica of Apt. It came about in this way, says
local history. When Martha, Lazarus, and the Holy Marys of the Gospels
landed in France, they brought with them the venerated body of Saint
Anne, the Virgin's Mother; and Lazarus, being a Bishop, kept the holy
relic at his episcopal seat of Marseilles. Persecutions arose, and
dangers innumerable; and for safety's sake the Bishop removed Saint
Anne's body to Apt and sealed it secretly in the wall. For centuries,
Christians met and prayed in the little church, unconscious of the
wonder-working relic hidden so near them; and it was only through a
miracle, in Charlemagne's time and some say in his presence, that the
holy body was discovered. This is the history which a sacristan recites
to curious pilgrims as he leads them to the sub-crypt.

The sub-crypt of Sainte-Anne, one of the earliest of Gallo-Roman
"churches," is not more than a narrow aisle; its low vault seems to
press over the head; the air is damp and chill; and the one little
candle which the patient sacristan moves to this side and to that, shows
the plain, un-ornamented stone-work and the undoubted masonry of Roman
times. It was part of the Aqueduct which carried water to the Theatre in
Imperial days, and had become a chapel in the primitive Christian era.
At the end which is curved as a choir is a heavy stone, used as an
altar; and high in the wall is the niche where the body of the church's