Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges and the Cathedral of the Pyrenees | EUROtoday

It’s an unforgettable Sight: The Teensy Village of Saint-Bertrand-De-Comminges Squeeze on an remoted promontory beneath a mightile-buttred gothic church. Before Lourdes, this inland Mont-Saint-Michel was the Religious Center of the Pyrenees. TODAY IT’S AN IDEAL SPOT FOR A TALE STAY SAYS DANA FACOROS.

Salome woz right here

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges in Haute-Garonne, Southwest France, is formally one of many Prettiest Villages of France (Most stunning villages). The Ancient Celts Called it Lugdunum, the ‘Citadel of the Sun’ for its Temple Dedicated To The Sun God Lug. By 76 bc, the one tribes left within the space have been the iberian Convenii‘Robbers of Souls’, hombres so robust that even an incredible novel common like pompey most popular to win them over by kindness; He declared them to be novels and grants them the territory, henceforth known as lugdunum condenum.

The convenii turned out to be wonderful residents. LUGDUNUM THRIVED, AND WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO HOST THE PRESILED HEROD ANTIPATER, Wife Herodias and Her Daughter Salome. Some six centuries later, in 1083, Bertrand de l’Isle-Jourdain, Cousin of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse (Leader of the First Crusade) was accomplished BISHOP OF CONVENURUM, NOW CALALED COMMINGES AND WAS DOWNOLEIZED IN 1175.

In the late 1200s, Bertrand de Got of Bordeaux (Later Pope Clement V) Rebuilt the Cathedral of Sainte-Marie and inspired Pilgrims to Vis Bertrand’s Tomb. Today, the pilgrims are again, it is a cease on the footmont pyrenees technique to compostla and a World Heritage Site.

More a crocodile and a unicorn

Few Cathedrals Enjoy Such A Majestic Setting. At evening, when it is illuminated, it seems to drift prefer to golden ship over the mountains. Walk up by way of the medieval gate and observe the pagan tombstones from lugdunum embedded within the tower.

The inside is stuffed with marvels, Starting No Less with the ‘Third Wonder of Gascony’ – A 3,000 Pipe Organ Perched On Columns, Inaugurated in 1535. It Still Blasts Out a Wall of Sound, Especially During the Summer Music Festival. Opposite, an packaged crocodile is bolted to the wall, seemingly slain by st bertrand when it swam up the garonne.

An opulent Renaissance Rood Screen Closes Off The Choir. You’ll Need to Fork Out a Few euros to see the remaining, nevertheless it’s Worth it.

Start with the partition. Built by St Bertrand, It Sits on the Edge of the Promontory, with an open gallery overlooking the mountains. Among the tombs is one Belinging to a Canon Vital d’Ardengost (D.1334) of the Pungent Epitaph: ‘Here Lies a Rose of the World, however no lengthy a rose intact. She goes alongside perfumes, But Smells of What She Should Smell. ‘

Sculptors from Toulouse Carved Sainte-Marie’s 66 Magnifiment Choir Stalls Between 1523-51, Whose Renaissance Humanistic View of the Universe Includes Sibyls, Prophets, Christian Virtues, Knights, Imaginary Beasts-And an Abbot caning a Naughty Bare-Votomed Monk.

St Bertrand is Buried in His Own Chapel, Decorated With Folksy Fifteenth-Century Paintings of His Life. The Last Scene Shows Pope Clement V. Because of His Importance, the Painters made Him the dimensions of the Jolly Green Giant.

Upstairs, the Treasury’s Exquisite Hoard embrace The AlicorneA ‘Unicorn’ (Newly a Narwhal) Horn. Water filtered by way of it was contemplating a sure-heart antidote for poisoning. In 1594 A Band of Huguenots beneath Corbeyran d’Aure Stole It, But Even Corbeyran Feared the Vengeance of St Bertrand, and He Returned the Horn in Exchange for Amnesty.

Lastly within the Nave Don’t Miss the Tomb of Hugues De Châtillon, the Wealthy 14^th– Century Bishop Whose Fine Alabaster Effigy Lies on Slab Sculpted with 70 figures in a funerary procession.

An Ancient Shopping Mall

Sainte Marie Overlooks the excavated sections of the traditional lugdunum condistarum. Although The Ruins Are Basalely Foundations, It Ap seems Life on this Town of 10,000 was readyty Jammy 2000 Years AGO. The Forum Temple (c. 15AD) is reverse The School, by the thermal thermal, Built in regards to the Same Period; You could make out the Hot and Cold Rooms (Caldaria and Frigidaria) and Much of the Plumbing. Roman Bathing was a long-drawn-out ritual, a spot to speak enterprise and political.

Across the D26 Stood the Commercial Heart of Lugdunum: A Once-Covered Shopping Mall or Macellumfrom 15 advert with 26 boutiques paved with black and white mosaics. At over 500 sq. meters, it’s among the many massive coated marketes Every found within the western novel empire. Towards The Car Park, A Raised Circular Sanctuary Marked The Main Crossroads. The Municipal Baths, The Thermes du Nord Complex, included an Early Sauna.

South of the Macellum, Lugdunum’s Palaeochristian Basilica Dates from the fifth Century, Making It One of the Oldest in Southern Gaul. It had a inexperienced, crimson and white mosaic ground; It was used within the merovingians trashed the place in 585. Nearby, Saint-Julian was rebuilt within the 12^th Century Over the Original Cemetery Chapel. Little stays of the novel theater on the slope – it was simply too handy to Quarry.

Into the Valley of Goats

Valcabrère’s Name, ‘Valley of Goats’ Comes from a TRICK PULALED by the VANDALS IN 407 AD. When They Found Lugdunum Too Well Defended for his or her Tastes, They Gathered All The Goats they might discover and tied torches to their horns, and at evening Drove them toowards the town gate. Everyone Rushed to Ward Off the Attack, Leaving The Other Gates Undefended for the Vandals to Waltz in and Overturn The Wagons, Break the Windows and Paint Their Names All Over The Walls.

There’s one final should. Isolated in a subject, the 12^th-Century basilica of Saint-Just is a loopy quilt of cannibalized novel and Merovingian Stones. The Portal Was Inspired by the Roman Models So Near at hand and it options an unusually pudgy Christ in Majesty and evangelists clutching their Emblems. Serenely Elegant Figures of Saints Stephen, Just, Pasteur and Helen Guard the Door, Under Capitals Showing Cartoonish Scenes of Their Lives. If it is open, stand close to the altar and sing a number of notes: the acoustic are well-custom good.

For extra data: visit-occitanie.com/en

Dana Facaros has lived in France for over 30 years. She is the Creator of French Food Decoder App: Everything you need to find out about french meals, and co-author of the Bradt Guide to Gascony & The Pyrenees and Many Guide Books to France.

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