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....
As I mentioned above, the oldest part of the abbey church is the western tower-porch from the 900s, with parts that are even older, from the 800s. During the consolidation works undertaken on the tower in the 1950s, which involved excavation to pour concrete and stabilize the base of the tower, a Merovingian cemetery was found with sarcophagi from the 400s and 500s, some quite plain, some very ornate.
They have been kept in an underground room under the tower. This space is not open to the public but I was given access to take pictures.
Some of the tombs found in that small necropolis were much more recent, 12th or 13th century.
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....
As I mentioned above, the oldest part of the abbey church is the western tower-porch from the 900s, with parts that are even older, from the 800s. During the consolidation works undertaken on the tower in the 1950s, which involved excavation to pour concrete and stabilize the base of the tower, a Merovingian cemetery was found with sarcophagi from the 400s and 500s, some quite plain, some very ornate.
They have been kept in an underground room under the tower. This space is not open to the public but I was given access to take pictures.
Some of the tombs found in that small necropolis were much more recent, 12th or 13th century.