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The Church of Our Lady of the Angels, built in the 12th century in the middle of the site of the Roman city of Alavinum. Miracles having taken place, she abandoned her former name of Notre-Dame d'Aulun for that of Notre-Dame des Anges. In its current state, it was built between 1662 and 1674 as the chapel of the Récollets convent. In the 18th century, it was increased by six side chapels vaulted with archaic type warheads for that time, then underwent major repairs in the early 1750s. The nave is vaulted in a lowered barrel. It is lit by six bays, three on the north wall and three on the south wall. The square tower bell tower is built at the corner of the choir. The choir is built high above a crypt that extends beyond the limits of the current chapel. However, this chapel is built on a very old one, which may date back to the 11th century. The domain of Notre-Dames-d'Olon (Alaunium) belonged to the Bishop of Sisteron, who exchanged it in the middle of the 12th century with the Templars for La Brillanne.
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France is affectionately referred to as "the Hexagon" for its overall shape.French history goes back to the Gauls, a Celtic tribe which inhabited the area circa 300BC until being conquered by Julius Caesar.The Franks were the first tribe to adopt Catholic Christianity after the Roman Empire collapsed. France became an independent location in the Treaty of Verdun in (843 AD), which divided up Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire into several portions.The French monarchy reached its zenith during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who stood for seventy-two years as the Monarch of all Monarchs. His palace of Versailles and its Hall of Mirrors are a splendid treasure-trove of Baroque art.The French Revolution ended the rule of the monarchy with the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!" On July 14th, 1789 angry mobs stormed La Bastille prison and began the Revolution in which Louis XVI, his wife Marie-Antoinette and thousands of others met the guillotine.One decade after the revolution, Napolean Bonaparte seized control of the Republic and named himself Emperor. His armies conquered most of Europe and his Napoleonic Code became a lasting legal foundation for concepts of personal status and property.During the period of colonization France controlled the largest empire in the world, second only to Britain.France is one of the founding members of the European Union and the United Nations, as well as one of the nuclear armed nations of the world.Text by Steve Smith.
