Languedoc roman: the priory of Saint-Pierre-de-Rhèdes
[Today, we are going away for a few days for a family reunion, so there will be no more uploads from me until at least Sunday evening, perhaps Monday morning. Thank you very much.]
As you may know, my primary source when preparing a trip to discover the most fascinating Romanesque monuments in France (and elsewhere) is the Zodiaque collection of books, published between 1950 and 2000 by the Benedictine monks of La Pierre-qui-Vire in Burgundy, under the ægis of (and with photographs by) my mentor Dom Angelico Surchamp, osb. The Languedoc roman volume in that collection mentioned this isolated church of which I had never heard but which was conveniently located right next to the spa resort of Lamalou-les-Bains in the département of Hérault.
I say “conveniently” because, to tell you the truth, the real, primary purpose for which I drove down to Languedoc in November 2022 was not to photograph Romanesque churches (although that would obviously be a welcome complement), but to bring my beloved Revox B77 Mark II tape deck to a competent “fixer” who lived in a village not far from Lamalou. Months ago, I had stupidly broken one of the façade switches, and now the sick boy had to be taken to a healer to be fixed. And while the artisan was doing his thing on the Revox, I got to drive around and see beautiful old stones...
Back to the main matter, the church we are visiting today was built on the remains of an early Christian sanctuary built around the late 300s on the Gallo-Roman site of Rhèdes (traces of it have been found by archæologists). Then, in 551 (there is a most rare written trace), a new church was ordered to be built over the primitive one by “a King of France” whose name is not mentioned —and of course, “France” did not exist as such at that time.
That church was then donated to the Benedictine abbey of Villemagne at a date unknown, but it is mentioned in the last will and testament of Guillaume, viscount of Béziers and Agde († 990 AD), and again in 1153 as a priory of Villemagne.
Stylistically, the church we see today belongs to the First Romanesque Art of the 11th century, but there are indications of an earlier construction date for some parts of it, probably around Year 1000 or even before that milestone. It is a simple yet ample church, very old but beautifully preserved and restored, with none of the absurd excesses of the 19th century. It has been listed as a Historic Landmark since 1880 and the acoustics are so good there are many concerts of all kinds of music during the Summer season. It has been deconsecrated at some point but I haven’t found the exact date.
The western door.
Languedoc roman: the priory of Saint-Pierre-de-Rhèdes
[Today, we are going away for a few days for a family reunion, so there will be no more uploads from me until at least Sunday evening, perhaps Monday morning. Thank you very much.]
As you may know, my primary source when preparing a trip to discover the most fascinating Romanesque monuments in France (and elsewhere) is the Zodiaque collection of books, published between 1950 and 2000 by the Benedictine monks of La Pierre-qui-Vire in Burgundy, under the ægis of (and with photographs by) my mentor Dom Angelico Surchamp, osb. The Languedoc roman volume in that collection mentioned this isolated church of which I had never heard but which was conveniently located right next to the spa resort of Lamalou-les-Bains in the département of Hérault.
I say “conveniently” because, to tell you the truth, the real, primary purpose for which I drove down to Languedoc in November 2022 was not to photograph Romanesque churches (although that would obviously be a welcome complement), but to bring my beloved Revox B77 Mark II tape deck to a competent “fixer” who lived in a village not far from Lamalou. Months ago, I had stupidly broken one of the façade switches, and now the sick boy had to be taken to a healer to be fixed. And while the artisan was doing his thing on the Revox, I got to drive around and see beautiful old stones...
Back to the main matter, the church we are visiting today was built on the remains of an early Christian sanctuary built around the late 300s on the Gallo-Roman site of Rhèdes (traces of it have been found by archæologists). Then, in 551 (there is a most rare written trace), a new church was ordered to be built over the primitive one by “a King of France” whose name is not mentioned —and of course, “France” did not exist as such at that time.
That church was then donated to the Benedictine abbey of Villemagne at a date unknown, but it is mentioned in the last will and testament of Guillaume, viscount of Béziers and Agde († 990 AD), and again in 1153 as a priory of Villemagne.
Stylistically, the church we see today belongs to the First Romanesque Art of the 11th century, but there are indications of an earlier construction date for some parts of it, probably around Year 1000 or even before that milestone. It is a simple yet ample church, very old but beautifully preserved and restored, with none of the absurd excesses of the 19th century. It has been listed as a Historic Landmark since 1880 and the acoustics are so good there are many concerts of all kinds of music during the Summer season. It has been deconsecrated at some point but I haven’t found the exact date.
The western door.