France romane: Souillac
After the wonders of Moissac, I drove back North 125 kilometers to the small town of Souillac, back in the département of Lot but still in the old province of Quercy (and in the modern region of Occitania). According to unconfirmed local stories, the abbey of Souillac was founded by Saint Éloi († 660) before it was taken over by the Benedictines from Aurillac in the 900s. From that period, only the Western tower-porch remains.
Less famous than Moissac, this abbey was, for me, at least as interesting, beginning with the church, which has not been altogether transformed in the Gothic style like in Moissac, but retains its beauty and genuineness from the 1100s, as I hope you will see through the photos I will upload.
Sculpture is also at least as amazing at that of Moissac, and even more so in some respects —and it is in much better condition, for reasons that we will explore together as I caption the relevant photos.
Listed as a Historic Landmark on the first list of 1840, the abbey is not on the path to Compostela and was never known for housing any particularly famous relics, which is why the church, dedicated to Saint Mary, has no ambulatory around the choir.
I was very nicely received in Souillac by the local authorities as the photos I took contributed to the documentation of the nationwide crowdfunding project that is in place to restore parts of the church, under the ægis of the Fondation du Patrimoine (Mission Bern), for which I work as a pro bono photographer: www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/abbatiale-sainte....
The roof and the cupolas covered with lauzes (flat stones). This place is of course not open to the public: access is through narrow and very dusty spiral staircases (carrying the tripod and Benro head was not easy!), and there are no guardrails around the roof, and not a lot of wriggling space around the cupolas...
Using cupolas for roofing the church is in line with the local tradition of this part of southwestern France, where large churches are often covered that way. Inspired by Byzantine architecture, this practice allow for relatively light stone roofs; resting the cupolas on pendentives better distributes the weight on the corner pillars, allowing for larger and wider churches arches with broader reach, and larger windows.
France romane: Souillac
After the wonders of Moissac, I drove back North 125 kilometers to the small town of Souillac, back in the département of Lot but still in the old province of Quercy (and in the modern region of Occitania). According to unconfirmed local stories, the abbey of Souillac was founded by Saint Éloi († 660) before it was taken over by the Benedictines from Aurillac in the 900s. From that period, only the Western tower-porch remains.
Less famous than Moissac, this abbey was, for me, at least as interesting, beginning with the church, which has not been altogether transformed in the Gothic style like in Moissac, but retains its beauty and genuineness from the 1100s, as I hope you will see through the photos I will upload.
Sculpture is also at least as amazing at that of Moissac, and even more so in some respects —and it is in much better condition, for reasons that we will explore together as I caption the relevant photos.
Listed as a Historic Landmark on the first list of 1840, the abbey is not on the path to Compostela and was never known for housing any particularly famous relics, which is why the church, dedicated to Saint Mary, has no ambulatory around the choir.
I was very nicely received in Souillac by the local authorities as the photos I took contributed to the documentation of the nationwide crowdfunding project that is in place to restore parts of the church, under the ægis of the Fondation du Patrimoine (Mission Bern), for which I work as a pro bono photographer: www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/abbatiale-sainte....
The roof and the cupolas covered with lauzes (flat stones). This place is of course not open to the public: access is through narrow and very dusty spiral staircases (carrying the tripod and Benro head was not easy!), and there are no guardrails around the roof, and not a lot of wriggling space around the cupolas...
Using cupolas for roofing the church is in line with the local tradition of this part of southwestern France, where large churches are often covered that way. Inspired by Byzantine architecture, this practice allow for relatively light stone roofs; resting the cupolas on pendentives better distributes the weight on the corner pillars, allowing for larger and wider churches arches with broader reach, and larger windows.