©Rose Papalia © Office de Tourisme d'Orange
In the 15th Century, Orange was home to many monastic orders. Saint Florent’s was the conventional church of the Cordeliers, or Franciscans. The porch with folding doors coming from the Saint Trophime Church in Arles sits in an austere gothic façade (15th Century). During the Wars of Religion, an eyewitness reported that “the protestants ruined the church where the princes of Orange are, and were not spared”…
Sold as a national property during the Revolution, it would be used as a hay barn, a stable and a prison before being returned to the Church in 1803. Forty years later, it was given a parish and dedicated to Saint Florent.
