|
|
In the heart of the Corbières
|
|
|
|
From Narbonne, we will discover the charming village of Lagrasse and will visit the cistercian abbey of Fontfroide one of the most prstigious in the Languedoc.
|
Narbonne
The Robine canal, a branch of the Canal du Midi, divides Narbonne into two distinct portions, the bourg and the cite. The latter is one of the oldest and most interesting of French towns. The former cathedral (St Just), which consists only of a choir 130 ft. high and transept, was begun in 1272, and the transept was still unfinished at the end of the 15th century. The towers (194 ft. high) at each extremity of the transept were built about 1480. Some additions towards the west were made early in the 18th century. An unusual effect is produced by a double row of crenellation taking the place of balustrades on the roof of the choir chapels and connecting the pillars of the flying buttresses. Among the sepulchral monuments, which are the chief feature of the interior, may be noticed the alabastertomb of Cardinal Guillaume Briconnet, minister of state under Charles VIII. The chapterhouse, of the 15th century, has a vaulted roof supported on four free pillars. The treasury preserves many interesting relics. The apse of the cathedral was formerly joined to the fortifications of the archiepiscopal palace, and the two buildings are still connected by a mutilated cloister of the 14th and 15th centuries.
On the front of the palace are three square towers of unequal height. Between the Tour des Telegraphes (1318), crenellated and turreted at the corners, and that of St Martial (1374), machicolated and pierced by Gothic openings, a new façade was erected in the style of the 13th century after the plans of Viollet-le-Duc.
This portion of the building now serves as hotel de ville, and its upper stories are occupied by the Narbonne museum of art and archaeology, which includes a fine collection of pottery. The palace garden also contains many fragments of Roman work once built into the now dismantled fortifications; and the Musee Lapidaire in the Lamourguier buildings (formerly the church of a Benedictine convent) has a collection of Roman remains derived from the same source. The church of St Paul, though partly Romanesque, is in the main striking, and for the south of France a rare example of a building of the first half of the 13th century in the Gothic style of the north. It possesses some ancient Christian sarcophagi and fine Renaissance wood carving. Narbonne has a sub-prefecture, tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of tradearbitration, a chamber of commerce, a communal college for boys and a school of commerce and industry. It has a good trade in wine and spirituous liquors, and is famous for its honey. The industries include cooperage, sulphur-refining, brandy-distilling and the manufacture of bricks and tiles and verdigris.
Long before the Roman invasion of Gaul Narbonne was a flourishing city, being capital of the Volcae Tectosages. It was there that the Romans in 118 B.C. founded their first colony in Gaul, which bore the name of Narbo Martius; they constructed great works to protect the city from inundation and to improve its port, situated on a lake now filled up but at that time communicating with the sea. Capital of Gallia Narbonensis, the seat of a proconsul and a station for the Roman fleet, Narbo Martius became the rival of Massilia. But in A.D. 150 it suffered greatly from a conflagration, and the division of Gallia Narbonensis into two provinces lessened its importance as a capital. Alans, Suevi, Vandals, each held the city for a brief space, and at last, in 413, it was occupied by the Visigoths, whose capital it afterwards became. In 719, after a siege of two years, it was captured by the Saracens, and by them its fortifications were restored and extended. Charles Martel, after the battle of Poitiers, and Pippin the Short, in 752, were both repulsed from its walls; but on a new attempt, after an investment of seven years, and by aid of a traitor, the Franks managed again to force their way into Narbonne. Charlemagne made the city the capital of the duchy of Gothia, and divided it into three lordships - one for the bishop, another for a Frankish lord, and the third for the Jews, who, occupying their own quarter, possessed schools, synagogues and a university famous in the middle ages. The viscounts who succeeded the Frankish lord sometimes acknowledged the authority of the counts of Toulouse, sometimes that of the counts of Barcelona. In the 13th century the crusade against the Albigenses spared the city, but the archbishopric was seized by the pope's legate, Arnaud Araury, who took the title of viscount of Narbonne. Simon de 1VIontfort, however, deprived him of this dignity, receiving from Philip Augustus the duchy of Narbonne along with the county of Toulouse. By his expulsion of the Jews Philip the Fair hastened the decay of the city; and about the same period the Aude, which had formerly been diverted by the Romans, ceased to flow towards
Narbonne and the harbour was silted up, to the further disadvantage of the place. In 1642 Henri Marquis de Cinq-Mars was arrested at Narbonne for conspiring against Richelieu. United to the French crown in 1507, Narbonne was enclosed by a new line of walls under Francis I., but having ceased to be a garrison town it had the last portions of its ramparts demolished in 1870. The archbishopric was founded about the middle of the 3rd century, its first holder being Sergius Paulus; it was suppressed in 1790.
Abbaye de Fontfroide
Nestled in a green valley in the Languedoc region of southern France, the Abbey of Fontfroide is one of the most complete abbey complexes remaining today.
History of the Abbey of FontfroideThe Abbey of Fontfroide was founded as a Benedictine abbey in 1093 and affiliated with the Cistercians in 1145. Construction on the church began soon after.The cloisters and chapter house date from the 12th century and are excellent examples of Romanesque architecture. The monastery flourished and soon became a center of orthodoxy.However, construction of Fontfroide was temporarily interrupted by the turmoil of the Cathar wars. It was the murder in 1208 of Pierre de Castelnau, a Fontfroide monk and legate to Pope Innocent III, that led to the Albigensian Crusade.After peace was restored, construction on Fontfroide Abbey continued. The influence of Fontfroide soon dominated the entire region, all the way to Catalonia, and a daughter monastery was founded in Poblet. Two Fontfroide monks in particular gained great fame: Arnaud Nouvel was appointed cardinal, chancellor of the church and eventually papal legate in the proceedings against the Templars.
Another Fontfroide monk became Pope Benoìt XII. In 1348, the Black Death reached Fontfroide Abbey and three-quarters of the monks were lost. In 1476, the wealthy monastery was put under prebend. In the 17th and 18th centuries, abbots of Fontfroide rebuilt many of the monastic buildings and added new features including an orange grove, terraced garden, an elegant wall in the courtyard, and a large gate. The last of the monks left Fontfroide in 1791, but the abbey was not damaged during the Revolution. In 1858 it became a functioning abbey once again when a small community of monks from Sénaque moved in. The last abbot, the saintly Père Jean, died in 1895. A law of 1901 put an end to monastic communities, and the last of the monks fled to Spain. The abbey remained uninhabited until 1908, when the property was sold at auction to those who wished to preserve its art and architecture. Under this new ownership, extensive restoration was undertaken: stained-glass windows were fitted, decorative wrought iron filled the window openings, and statues and reliefs were added to the walls and gardens. In 1990, a rose garden of more than 3000 rosebushes was planted.
Features of the Abbey of FontfroideThe Abbey of Fontfroide is an excellent example of the monastic town prescribed by Saints Benedict and Bernard, in which everything necessary for simple living is accessible within the monastic complex. The various buildings thus provide room for prayer (the church and the cloister), for work (the scriptorium and the gardens) and for rest (the dormitories), as well as food and drink to sustain the monks and lay brothers. The enclosed monastic complex of Fontfroide consists of two main areas: one for monks and one for lay brothers. The section reserved for monks is that nearest the church and the cloisters, while the section for lay brothers is that which opens to the outside world. The abbey buildings are arranged around the flow of water, which was needed for the gardens, the cloisters, the corn mill and the fish ponds. The former outbuildings of the abbey have been completely restored and transformed into a visitors' area that includes a restaurant, a gift shop, and a wine cellar.
Lagrasse
renowned in the Corbières, nestles in the valley of the River Orbieu. There are gorges, fertile valleys, and hills (all so very Mediterranean), and the “garrigue” with a bewildering array of fresh herbs. The Benedictine abbey, set in the valley in which Lagrasse is situated, is linked to the town by a superb 12th Century bridge across the River Orbieu. In the fortified medieval village with its cobbled streets, there are many fascinating and historical things to see - The Market Hall, The church. In the area surrounding Lagrasse there are ‘châteaux’ and ‘domaines’, where you can find and sample, some of the best wines of the Languedoc. You may then want to partake of them yet again, whilst you indulge in the age-old French pastime of people watching - from your dinner table at one of the many village restaurants in the mottled shade provided by the old plane trees.
A charter of Charlemagne (dated earlier than 800) is now recognised as the Charter of the Foundation of the Abbey of Lagrasse.
The Abbey’s rapid growth was due to the many gifts it received both of money and land. This prosperity and the important geographical position of the Abbey between France and Spain, meant that the Abbots could play a major role in the religious and political affairs of the Midi.
The legacy of building the Abbey over many centuries (the 11th to the 18th), is a wide range of architectural styles which may be seen today. The Abbey is open everyday.
|
|
