The Abbey of Saint-Gilles (French: Abbaye de Saint-Gilles ) is a monastery in Saint-Gilles, southern France. Founded by Saint Giles, it is included in the UNESCO Heritage List, as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
According to the legend, it was founded in the 7th century by Saint Gilles, over lands which had been given him by the Visigoth King Wamba after he had involuntarily wounded the saint during a hunt. The monastery was initially dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul: however, in the 9th century, the dedication was changed to St. Giles himself, who had become one of the most venerated figures in the area. His relics were housed in the abbey church and attracted numerous pilgrims.
In the 11th century, the monastery was attached to that of Cluny. Thanks to its prosperity, it was enlarged and decorated from the 12th to the 15th century, when the cloister was finished. In the 16th century the church, in the course of the Wars of Religion, was devastated when the Huguenots took shelter in it. Restorations were held in the 17th century and again, after further damage during the French Revolution, in the 19th century. The tomb of St. Giles was rediscovered in 1865, becoming again a pilgrim destination from 1965. 43°40′43″N4°25′54″E / 43.67861°N 4.43167°E
The abbey church is in typical southern French Romanesque style. The façade, built from 1120 to 1160, has a decorated entrance portico with three portals (the central one larger) with Corinthian columns and medieval sculpture decorations. These include, in the lower sector, a bestiary and scenes from the Old Testament; in the middle one it has statues and characters from the New Testament; the frieze and the tympana above the latter have also scenes from the same book, including the "Adoration of the Magi", the "Crucifixion of Jesus" and a "Maestà".
The frieze scenes are inspired to Roman ones. The upper part of the façade had originally also a classical-inspired decoration, which has now disappeared. The bell tower dates to the 18th century.
The crypt, or lower church, dates to the early 11th century. It measures 50 by 25 meters, and occupies the whole subterranean section of the nave. In its center is the tomb of St. Giles, a medieval place of veneration until in the 16th century, his relics were moved to the Basilica of Saint Sernin at Toulouse. The upper church, with a nave and two apses, mostly belongs to the 17th-century reconstruction, aside from the massive pillars in Corinthian style.
Behind the apse are the remains of the ancient choir, which once were part of the originally longer church (98 meters instead of the current 50). Inside the northern wall of the ancient choir is a spiral staircase (now free standing) known as "Screw of St. Gilles", dating to the 12th century, made of cantilevered stone steps.
A plaster cast of the façade exists in the Hall of Architecture at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| Paris Route or Via Turonensis |
|  | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vézelay Route or Via Lemovicensis |
| ||||
| Le Puy Route or Via Podiensis |
| ||||
| Arles Route or Via Tolasana |
| ||||
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later date being the most commonly held. In the 12th century it developed into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches. Examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture. The Romanesque style in England and Sicily is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture.
The Basilica of Saint-Denis is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.
Cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monastic churches like those of abbeys and priories, often have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary architectural style and the work of accomplished craftsmen, and occupy a status both ecclesiastical and social that an ordinary parish church rarely has. Such churches are generally among the finest buildings locally and a source of regional pride. Many are among the world's most renowned works of architecture. These include St Peter's Basilica, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cologne Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Antwerp Cathedral, Prague Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of San Vitale, St Mark's Basilica, Westminster Abbey, Saint Basil's Cathedral, Antoni Gaudí's incomplete Sagrada Família and the ancient cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, now a mosque.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the Lateran, Saint Peter's, and Saint Mary Major, as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.
Saint Giles, also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A town that bears his name grew up around the monastery he purportedly founded, which became a pilgrimage centre and a stop on the Way of Saint James. He is traditionally one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Saint-Gilles or Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is a church in Paris, France, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement, near the Panthéon. It contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. The church also contains the tombs of Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine. Jean-Paul Marat is buried in the church's cemetery.
The Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of Paris. It was originally the church of a Benedictine abbey founded in 558 by Childebert I, the son of Clovis, King of the Franks. It was destroyed by the Vikings, rebuilt, and renamed in the 8th century for Saint Germain, an early Bishop of the city. it was rebuilt with elements in the new Gothic style in the eleventh century, and was given the first flying buttresses in Paris in the 12th century. It is considered the oldest existing church in Paris.
The Cathedral of Saint Lazarus of Autun, commonly known as Autun Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Autun and a national monument of France. Famous for its Cluniac inspiration and its Romanesque sculptures by Gislebertus, it is a highlight of Romanesque art in Burgundy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Autun. The Bishop of Autun set forth the construction of St. Lazarus Cathedral as a result of the large movement of pilgrims travelling to Vezelay as they progressed on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
Langres Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Langres, France. It was erected in the twelfth century, and is dedicated to the 3rd-century martyr Mammes of Caesarea. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Langres, and is a national monument. The nave and interior are in the Romanesque and French Gothic style while the later facade is an example of French Neoclassical architecture
The Basilica di San Zeno is a minor basilica of Verona, northern Italy constructed between 967 and 1398 AD. Its fame rests partly on its Romanesque architecture and partly upon the tradition that its crypt was the place of the marriage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It stands adjacent to a Benedictine abbey, both dedicated to St Zeno of Verona.
St. George's Basilica is the oldest surviving church building within Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic. The basilica was founded by Vratislaus I of Bohemia in 920. It is dedicated to Saint George. Primarily Romanesque in style, it is part of the collection of buildings that comprise the castle, the political capital of the nation, and the spiritual center of the Czech state.
Longobards in Italy: Places of Power is seven groups of historic buildings that reflect the achievements of the Germanic tribe of the Lombards, who settled in Italy during the sixth century and established a Lombard Kingdom which ended in 774 A.D.
The Abbey of Santa Giustina is a 10th-century Benedictine abbey complex located in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. Adjacent to the former monastery is the basilica church of Santa Giustina, initially built in the 6th century, but whose present form derives from a 17th-century reconstruction.
Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas is a Roman Catholic parish church in Paris, France. The church is located at the corner of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue de l'Abbé de l'Épée in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. The first church on the site, a monastery chapel, was built in 1360. The present church was completed in 1685. The church is named for Saint-Jacques Du-Haut-Pas,", a cousin of Christ and the first bishop of Jerusalem, who was martyred in the year 60.It was registered as an historical monument on 4 June 1957.
The Cathedral of Sansepolcro is a Catholic church in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, central Italy.
The Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris is a Roman Catholic parish church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It has housed the relics of the Empress Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, since 1819, for which it remains a site of veneration in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In 1915 the French Ministry of Culture listed it as a monument of historical value.
San Donato is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church located in the town of Montefano, province of Macerata, in the region of Marche, Italy.
Romanesque architecture appeared in France at the end of the 10th century, with the development of feudal society and the rise and spread of monastic orders, particularly the Benedictines, which built many important abbeys and monasteries in the style. It continued to dominate religious architecture until the appearance of French Gothic architecture in the Île-de-France between about 1140 and 1150.
The Abbey of San Felice e Mauro is a Roman Catholic complex including what is now the rural parish church of San Felice, a Romanesque and Gothic-style former monastery church, and the attached abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, now a rural inn and restaurant. The abbey is located just outside the hillside hamlet of Castel San Felice, which is less than a kilometer north of the small town of Sant'Anatolia di Narco. The valley area known as the Valenerina is located a handful of kilometers east of Spoleto, in the Province of Perugia, region of Umbria, Italy.
