Chanteuges Abbey
The former Chanteuges Abbey , which later became the priory , stands at the narrowest point of a slender rocky spur between two opposite steep walls, high above the rivers Allier and Desges , which flow around it and which unite to the north of it. The village of Chanteuges , whose few rural houses are grouped around the basal ridge, is located in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region, about 30 kilometers west of the capital Le Puy-en-Velay . It consists of the older upper village La Vialle as an extension of the monastery on the basalt plateau and the lower village.
The first impression given by the buildings together with the towering defensive walls surrounding them is that of a stately castle fortress. They owe this fact to the time around the middle of the 12th century, when the monastery fell into secular hands by use of force, was plundered and converted into a fortress.
The church formerly used by the abbey and the later priory dates from the second half of the 12th century. It was built on the foundation walls of a previous building from the 11th century in almost the same dimensions. The choir head and parts of the front nave come from this . It is a three-aisled and four- bay Romanesque church, with a basilica elevation and windowed upper aisles .
On the north side of the church, a short distance from its north wall, considerable remains of the convent buildings of the monastery have been preserved, which are grouped around the still clearly recognizable cloister . The two-storey buildings surrounding the north and south galleries are largely preserved, but only partially in the west gallery. Between the church and the south gallery, which no longer exists, there were probably no or only single-storey buildings.
The Gothic chapel of Sainte-Anne and its sculptural decorations are an art-historical gem . It is also called the abbot's chapel and is located in the north-eastern corner of the monastery, attached to the north gallery of the cloister.
history
The steep, high rocky ridge between the two rivers has always been a natural place of refuge and defense. The presence of humans since the Neolithic is proven on it. The name Chanteuges goes back to Gallic origins. In the Carolingian era (8th to early 11th century) it was the headquarters of a vicariate (also vicarie). There were two churches here at the time. One on the site of the later abbey church was initially dedicated to St. Julian (French: Saint-Julien ). The other was the parish church of the upper village of La Vialle .
Claudius (French: Claude ), a powerful feudal lord , intended to set up a chapter of canons in Chanteuges , but this was only realized by his grandson Cunabertus (French: Cunabert ). At that time he was provost of the chapter of Saint-Julien in Brioude . He donated the place, the church and the surrounding lands belonging to him to establish a monastery that was to follow the order of St. Benedict . In 936 he signed the deed of foundation of the Chanteuges Abbey, which was now dedicated to Saint Marcellinus (Marcellus) (French: Saint-Marcellin), the first Archbishop of Embrun (died around 374). The church had relics from him , as well as from St. Julianus (French: Julien ) of Brioude and Julianus of Antioch.
The Romanesque building that preceded today's church was built in the 11th century, and its floor plan probably had a similar expansion and structure. The central apse and pillars of the nave are still contained in the first yoke. In front of the facade wall, however, there was still a tower vestibule that stretched almost to the northern steep face of the plateau. It had a grandstand that opened onto the nave.
The management of the monastery was entrusted to Arnulf, the abbot of Aurillac. The monastery soon received its own abbot. It remained dependent on the chapter of Brioude, which was confirmed in a bull dated 1119 by Pope Calixt II .
Almost no news has come down to us about the first 200 years of the abbey history. We do know, however, that the monks were well paid and lived there without any problems.
Chanteuges was on one of the side routes of the Jacob's pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela on the section between Brioude and Le Puy en Velay. However, the abbey was only able to participate in the heyday of pilgrimages in the first half of the 12th century, when hundreds of thousands moved south every year.
Around 1130, Ithier von Mandulphe , a rulership from the region, seized the abbey by force, occupied it and plundered it, drove the monks out and changed the buildings into a fortification. The church institutions fell into disrepair. In the words of the last abbot, Raimund , the monastery was only a “robber's and murderer's nest” (“receptaculum predonum et homicidarum”) . He was so desperate about it that he found himself unable to restore the previous state. He handed over his office to Aimeric , the Bishop of Clermont , and fled to La Chaise-Dieu Abbey , where he entrusted the monks with the task of restoring the ruined monastery. This donation was documented in 1137 by the Bishop of Bourges and the Chapter of Brioude.
After a brief reconquest, La Chaise-Dieu Abbey established a dependent priory in Chanteuges, and around the middle of the 12th century a campaign of reconstruction work began on the monastery buildings. However, it is not known today in what condition the old abbey was when the "casadéennes" , as the monks of La Chaise-Dieu were called, were preparing to rebuild. It was probably largely destroyed in the course of the victorious siege that drove the invaders out of the monastery.
The central Romanesque main apse from the 11th century, built on the edge of the western steep face, remained unchanged, as did the western tower hall in front of the facade, which no longer exists today. For some time, the central nave was also left, which was only poorly repaired so that the service could be celebrated.
The beginnings of the new priory turned out to be difficult. A dispute arose with the canons of Brioude over the rights to Chanteuges, which was only settled in 1175 in favor of La Chaise-Dieu. To make matters worse was the increasing decline in pilgrimage movements to Santiago in the second half of the 12th century because of the associated decline in income, which then dried up completely in the Hundred Years War .
Obviously due to a lack of financial resources, it was decided to keep the tower porch of the priory church with the old facade and even the first yoke of the central nave, the pillars of which were only added (see floor plan). One can certainly assume that the old foundations of the previous structure have also been used again.
In the second half of the 12th century, the monks erected the new church in a three-aisled and four-bay plan in the Romanesque architectural style between the old parts, some of which are still preserved today. An exception to this was the vaulting of the central nave.
The builders installed a new Romanesque barrel vault there at a height of a good three meters higher than that of today's Gothic cross-ribbed vault, and it was probably also higher than the vault of the previous building. At 15.60 meters, the new vertex height of the central nave was exactly twice as high as that of the groin vaults of the side aisles with 7.80 meters.
With no grandstands over the aisles, the vaulted structure of the central nave relied only on the wall thickness and the buttresses attached to the outside, which were not particularly wide, and the inner high stilted arches of the central nave. They even had cliff windows built over the roofs of the aisles. Insufficiently secured against horizontal shear forces, the vaults collapsed (see elevation drawing). There is no further information about the time of the vault collapse. In any case, after clearing the rubble from the vault and repairing the wooden roof structure, services could be celebrated for a while without a vault in the central nave.
1318 the priory was the Mensalgut slammed by La Chaise-Dieu. It became the favorite residence and summer residence of the last downright abbots of La Chaise-Dieu, especially Jacques de Saint-Nectaire (abbot since 1491, died 1518), also called Jacques de Seneterre. He comes from a rich and powerful family from the Auvergne, who had many connections with La Chaise-Dieu Abbey.
In the 15th century, Jacques had the central nave vaults restored, but with ribbed vaults in the then current Gothic style and at a lower depth, as they are still today. The outer contour of the central nave and its roof have been preserved.
The tower porch in front of the facade was probably also removed in the 15th century and the wall opening to the former porch above the main portal was replaced by the large, slightly pointed arched window that is preserved today.
Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire owes the priory the Gothic chapel Sainte-Anne , also built in the 15th century , the so-called “Chapel of the Abbot”, on the northeast corner of the cloister and the adjoining “House of the Abbot”. He continued to restore and beautify the structure of the priory until the 16th century.
Chanteuges was spared the devastation of the wars of religion from 1562 to 1598 between the Catholic League and the Huguenots . In 1562, the priory offered shelter to the monks of La Chaise-Dieu after a fire set in their abbey by the Huguenots.
In 1640 the monks of Chanteuges, along with La Chaise-Dieu, were placed under the supervision of the Benedictines of Saint-Maur ( Maurinians ) under the orders of Cardinal Richelieu .
In the French Revolution of 1789 , the monks of Chanteuges were finally expelled and the priory's properties were sold as common property.
The current bell tower was only raised after the revolution. There is no evidence of the appearance and location of its predecessor. In any case, one speaks of a former “tower porch”, which indicates the existence of an earlier tower.
A mighty square defense tower dominated the northwest corner of the plateau until it collapsed in 1896. You can still see it on old black and white photos (see photo).
In the post-revolutionary period, the convent buildings of the former priory were used and destroyed by others, as can still be seen today.
Obviously at the same time storage rooms were built on the ceilings of the side aisles, which completely covered the upper facade windows. They were removed again in the 20th century and replaced with flat pitched monopitch roofs, as they were in the original building, and the upper aisle exposure of the central nave was restored. On an old photo from the end of the 19th century, which also shows the tower mentioned above, the western end of the southern granary can also be seen.
Also in the last century extensive restoration and renovation work took place under modern monument preservation aspects.
Monastery complexes
Saint-Marcellin priory church
Dimensions
- Inner length: 37.07 m
- Total width of the nave in the 2nd yoke: 18.00 m
- Width central nave: 5.74 m
- Height of central nave (15th century until today): 12.40 m
- Height of central nave (as in 12th century): 15.60 m
- Height of side aisles: 7.80 m
Outward appearance
Facade and tower
The facade closes off the nave in the west almost flat, without any significant offsets. It is made of large-format stone blocks made of neatly prepared gray to beige-colored basalt stone as a regular layered masonry. In the area of the central nave and in front of the south aisle, its outer contour follows roughly the outline of the nave behind it. The head wall of the north aisle next to the central nave is extended further upwards and then merges into the west wall of the bell tower, which rises above the first yoke of the north aisle. Its eaves are just above the ridge height of the central nave. On all sides, just below the eaves of the pyramid roof covered with red tile shingles, it has a large opening in the form of a horizontally positioned rectangle, which is divided into three sound hatches by two small columns.
It is known that a “tower vestibule” was in front of the facade until the 15th century, the appearance and dimensions of which are not documented. It is said to have extended almost to the western edge of the plateau. Its width could have been determined by the two wall templates that have been preserved. In any case, these templates in the axes of the side aisles, reaching just below the parapets of the arched windows, did not have the function of buttresses , as they are still offset a good distance from the partition walls (between the aisles ). In the vestibule there is said to have been a grandstand that was open to the central nave. It was accordingly two-story.
The facade is closed on both sides as an extension of the outer aisle walls by slightly bulging buttresses that reach up to the level of the eaves. Two more but narrower buttresses stand on both sides of the main portal opposite the old remains of the 11th century pillars within the facade wall (see floor plan). They reach roughly the height of the outer archivolt of the main portal.
The two-winged main portal is a three-tier archivolt portal. The inner and outer arches have right-angled edges, the middle one is a quarter rod, the ends of which stand on pillars that are equipped with capitals , spars , bases and plinths .
In the western end of the side aisles, slender arched windows are recessed with three-tier archivolts, similar in shape to those of the portal. The quarter arches stand on slender pillars with similar equipment as the portal. On the left side of the window in the south aisle, instead of the column, there is a smooth masonry edge with a transom. The height of the parapet of this window is just above the outer apex of the main portal. The window of the north aisle is arranged a little higher. The inner openings of both windows are decorated with Gothic tracery .
The western end of the central nave presents an extraordinarily large, pointed round arched window with double archivolt arches with right-angled edges. The inner arch stands on quarter-round columns with barely protruding capitals and fighters. The window parapet is just above the outer apex of the main portal.
The three windows in the facade ensure a particularly strong and warm light for the nave in the evening hours. There are also three smaller slit-like openings in the facade that may have been used for defensive purposes.
At the northern corner of the facade, which is also the corner of the tower, a stair tower has been added flush with the facade, the age of which is not documented. In any case, it must be younger than the structure of the 12th century. This can be seen on the one hand in the masonry of lower quality. It is irregular natural stone masonry made of unfinished or slightly finished anthracite - colored basalt stones of different formats, with reused large-format stone in changing colors, such as gray, beige to red, for the component corners and window frames. The masonry has mostly open joints. On the other hand, the stair tower was retrofitted to the existing buttress in the corner of the building on the north side. It must have come from a time when you couldn't afford qualified stonemasons.
The stair tower reaches up to about half the height of the bell tower and tapers slightly towards the top. It is covered by a flat sloping hipped roof, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format and on which a cantilever cornice has been formed on the eaves with the help of such tiles . The height of the stair tower seems just enough to get to the ceiling of the north aisle below the bell tower. On the west side there are three small window openings and a walled-in hatch at floor level.
Longhouse
The nave also shows itself to the outside as a classic three-aisled basilica with strong height offsets between the central and side aisles, which allow generous upper clad windows , and with a longitudinal division into four bays . A transept was omitted.
The central nave is covered by a gable roof with a slope of approx. 30 °, which is covered with anthracite-colored slate panels. The eaves are on a visible side in a suspense large fillet trained Kragprofil. Copper rain gutters and downpipes ensure controlled rainwater drainage, a modern ingredient.
The side aisles are covered by pent roofs with a 15 ° incline and are covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format, also known as "monk-nun tiles". The eaves of the south aisle is more elaborate than that of the north, which is largely covered by extensions. It rests on a strong and expansive cantilever cornice, about half of which is flat on the underside in cross-section, the other half is beveled and continuously rounded with a large hollow . The flat underside rests on a battery of simply carved corbels that are rounded on the visible side. The rainwater drainage is the same as for the roof of the central nave. On the north side, which is generally more simply designed, the corbels are missing. A slightly projecting cantilever cornice is provided with two shallow chamfers. The rainwater drainage takes place as with the main roof.
All the roofs of the nave come up against the gable walls, which clearly tower above them, at both the east and west end.
The long walls of the nave are vertically structured by strong, rectangular buttresses that end well below the eaves. The tops of the pillars are steeply sloping outwards, at the height of the kink point of the bevel a three-sided cantilever plate is installed.
The buttresses of the high side aisles are slightly wider than those of the central nave.
Between the buttresses of the south aisle, round-arched triple arcades are built across the entire width of the yoke and just below the corbels of the eaves, the middle arcade with a window opening, the two outer ones as blind arcades .
The wedges of the outer semicircular arches with right-angled edges are flush with the wall. A little indented follow companions made of strong quarter sticks in the setback. The outer arches and the companions each stand together on one of four round pillars, each equipped with a vegetable or geometrically carved capital, a wide, protruding profiled fighter plate and a round, profiled base on angular plinths. Immediately behind these arcade arches and pillars are again wall surfaces in which the arched window opening and the two arched arcade niches are recessed. The right-angled reveal edges of the window and the arcade niches run parallel to the round bars and pillars, but keep a clear distance from them. The arches of the niches are extended with three rounded niches in the manner of a clover leaf . The window is filled with Gothic tracery, the niches with smooth masonry like the wall surfaces.
Between the buttresses of the south and north wall of the central nave, above the aisle roofs, such triple arcades are installed, the windows of which serve as the cliff windows. The triple arcade is only missing in yoke 1, as the bell tower rises there.
The outer wall of the north aisle has only a few such design elements because there are additions to the outer wall, such as the cloister, the sacristy and the stair tower. Only in yokes 2 and 3 there are windows and a door that can be seen from the outside.
In the second yoke, a small, slender, round-arched, slightly pointed window is cut out in the upper half, offset a little from the center. The piece of wall in which this window is located may come from the previous building of the 11th century.
In the middle of the upper half of yoke 3 there is a larger round arched window, the arch and soffit stones of which, with right-angled edges, recede from the wall surface. It is surrounded by a semicircular arch made of quarter-bar profile and at the side by columns, which are equipped as with the columns of the triple arcades. The quarter arch is covered by a wedge arch with a right-angled edge, which is bricked flush with the wall surface.
In the same wall of the third yoke, directly next to the buttress between yokes 3 and 4, there is a round-arched portal, a former connection to the cloister , which is now walled up with unworked basalt blocks in an irregular formation. The rough masonry is reminiscent of that of the stair tower. The time of this closure is not known, but could have taken place in post-revolutionary times.
The outer wedge arch in the plane of the wall surface has a right-angled edge and is covered by a profiled cantilever profile with a so-called roller frieze. Stepping back a little below, an arch made of a quarter rod profile accompanies the outer arch. Both arches and the overlapping profile stand together on a wide, profiled transom plate, which rests on a vegetable carved capital and on the right side on the end of the wall. The capital is crowned by a column that stands in the wall recess next to the aforementioned wall end on a round, profiled base with a square plinth. The two outer arches are supported on the inside by two other arches of the same shape. These stand on non-projecting fighter plates, in thickness and height of the aforementioned fighter. These rest as an extension of the arch ends on the wall recess and a vertical quarter rod.
Choir head
The head of the choir towers above the steep face of the solidified lava flow washed under by the Allier. It can only be seen from the heights of the opposite bank. From there there is an attractive view of the north side of the nave with the gradation of the roofs, the beautiful east gable, which towers above the choir apse a good bit, and the two small, low apses. The irregularities of the terrain required strong retaining walls below the floors of the choir head.
The choir apse has been preserved from the previous building of the 11th century and is about as high as the aisles. Its floor plan encloses a semicircle that is somewhat “stilted” and somewhat flattened on its east side. Its walls connect to the two buttresses of the east gable as an extension of the partition walls. The apse is covered by a gently sloping conical roof, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format. The walls are closed by a slightly profiled cantilever cornice, on which the rafter heads and roof tiles rest and protrude slightly. In the flattened center of the apse there is a large round-arched window adorned with Gothic tracery.
Above and on both sides of the window you can see irregular masonry structures and a continuous, protruding offset in the wall surface, partly made up of horizontal stone beams supported by corbels. The whole thing is reminiscent of the remains of machiculis , also called pitch or military prisoners, or their dummies. These obviously date from the time when Ithier von Mandulphe had illegally nested here around 1130.
The older masonry of the choir apse differs from that of the rest of the building. It is also a regular layered masonry, but the smaller-sized stones are not as carefully prepared as the rest. There are also a number of repaired areas with stone material of lower quality.
The verges of the east gable of the central nave protrude a little beyond the gable roof surfaces, merge into a horizontal piece at the lower end and are covered with flat, slightly protruding stone slabs. The wall of the east gable above the roof of the choir apse is broken up into a group of three round-arched arcades, the two-tiered arches of which stand on columns, with the equipment already known from other windows. There are arcade niches in the two outer blind arcades. In the significantly higher and wider central arcade, two somewhat squat-looking windows of equal width are cut out. The lower one has clover-shaped bulges in the arch and exposes the upper area of the central nave. The upper round arched window opens today into the empty roof space of the roof structure.
For some time, these two windows were combined to form one large, slender window, when the builders first fitted the central nave with a barrel vault in the 12th century, which was about three meters higher than the current one. This barrel collapsed later; they were replaced in the 15th century by today's ribbed vaults. The horizontal ceiling created over the vault led to the subdivision of the large window in the east wall.
The choir apse is flanked on both sides by significantly smaller and lower apses, which cannot be recognized as such from the outside, as they are rectangularly walled on the outside in plan and covered by flat roofs sloping towards the east. The pent roofs are covered like the aisles. The roof tiles also protrude from the rectangular, slightly protruding eaves cornices. In the apses there is a round arched window of medium size in the middle. The window opening is enclosed by an arch with a right-angled edge at a slight distance. This stands on two pillars, with the known equipment, in corresponding setbacks of the wall surface. Above the arch there is again the well-known motif of the clover leaf as a semicircular wall niche.
Interior of the priory church
Nave structure
As already mentioned with the external appearance, its interior presents itself as a classic three-aisled basilica with large height offsets between the central and side aisles and with a longitudinal division into four exceptionally wide bays, without a separate transept . The equally wide yokes 3 and 4 are the widest, yoke 2 is a little narrower, yoke 1 is the narrowest. Due to the inclination of the facade, the first yoke narrows from the southern to the northern outer wall. It was taken over from the previous building.
The ships are separated by massive partition walls, which, as the outer walls of the central nave, rise up to about the eaves height of the central nave. They are supported by four semicircular arcade arches , the loads of which are directed into the foundations via massive square pillars . The largest arcades, in bays three and four, determine the height of the side aisles, the ceilings of which just above meet the partition walls. The partition arches (in the partition walls) are underpinned by belt arches with right-angled cross-sections , the loads of which are transferred to the foundations by so-called "old" semicircular services . The arch approaches are marked by artistically carved capitals (see separate paragraph) with protruding, profiled transom plates. The transom profile continues around the pillar sides, except on the ship side. The column feet are designed as profiled bases on angular plinths .
Central nave
After the approximately three meter higher barrel vault collapsed in the 15th century, the central nave was equipped with the four four-part rib vaults that exist today . The vertices of the slightly pointed vaulted caps run horizontally, directly below the ceiling that was subsequently drawn in with them. The profiled cross ribs unite in the crown of the vault in a keystone , under which a plate-shaped disc is attached, which is decorated with a coat of arms . The lower ends of the ribs plunge into the angle between the outer wall and the belt arch above the capital. The ribbed vaults are separated by cross-sectionally rectangular, slightly pointed and slightly stilted belt arches (vertical extension of the arch ends). These direct their loads via "old" semicircular services into the partition walls and foundations. At the height of the side aisle ceilings, the services are crowned by artfully carved capitals with profiled transom plates. At the foot there are again profiled bases on angular plinths. These services originally supported the older, but collapsed barrel vault. Between yokes one and two, under the belt arch, instead of the semicircular posts, there are rectangular wall pillars the same size as the belt arch, which are separated by a projecting transom profile at the height of the aisle ceiling. From about the height of the capitals of the partition arches down, the pillars are about twice as wide. These rectangular pillars come from the previous building in the 11th century (see floor plan).
The outer arches of the upper cladding windows almost hit the apex of the shield arches of the vaulted caps. The walls of the arched windows are widened inwards. There is a generous wall recess around the edges of the walls. Strong quarter rods are inserted in the arch area, which stand on capitals and transom plates. The columns with bases that used to stand underneath are almost all missing, except for the plinths. On the north side of the first yoke, the clasp window is missing because the bell tower is raised in front of the wall.
The large, slightly pointed window in the west wall above the portal almost completely fills the inner contour of the central nave with its double stepped wall recesses. The outer arch consists of wedge stones with right-angled edges. The curved edges merge into vertical reveal edges. After the jump, another arch made of the same wedge stones follows. But there are quarter sticks under its arch ends. The window opening is filled with Gothic tracery in the flamboyant style. The window parapet is steeply sloping inwards.
Aisles
The side aisles are covered with groin vaults from the 12th century and are classified by Bernard Craplet (see literature) as the "most beautiful part of the church", mainly because of their unusual proportions.
The side aisle yokes are almost twice as long as they are wide. If the dividing arches are semicircular and their transoms are at the same height as those of the aisles, the much narrower belt arches of the aisles must be strongly stilted. The vertical elevations here have a height of about 1.60 meters. For the groin vaults, this means that their ridges only reach down to this height above the warriors. The ridges have been painted in such a way that cross ribs are simulated. The panes of “keystones” with heraldic decorations are also painted replicas .
The pillars of the partition walls and the slightly overhanging wall pillars opposite them have the same services, their equipment and height as those under the lower chords of the partition arches. Exactly opposite the divider arches, large semicircular blind arcade arches run along the outer walls. The yokes are separated by the high stilted belt arches mentioned above.
In the south aisle, a round arched window is cut out in each yoke, with a circumferential setback with right-angled edges. Under the wedge stones of the outer arch there are accompanying arches made of quarter bars, which stand on pillars, with the already known equipment. The window walls are widened inwards. The parapet is steeply sloping inwards. The window opening is decorated with Gothic tracery.
Similar windows with almost the same fittings are found in the western head walls of both aisles, as well as in the outer wall of the north aisle in the third bay. A much smaller window is cut out in the second yoke.
Apses
The simple central main apse has no similarities to the side apses. It is one of the remains of the previous building from the 11th century, its half-dome calotte , however, was restored after its collapse. The ends of the wall surrounding it extend slightly beyond the classic semicircular floor plan. Its breadth there is slightly smaller than the breadth of the central nave. The arch that completes the dome is slightly stilted and stands on slightly protruding transom profiles. The apse wall merges into the semi-dome without a caesura. In the 15th century, instead of a presumably smaller window in the axis of the apse, a larger round-arched window with walls sloping inward and adorned with Gothic tracery. The gable wall of the central nave rises above the arch of the dome, which is bounded at the top by the gable-sided vault cap of a slightly pointed arch. Just below this arch there is a squat, almost square, round-arched window, cut out with strongly flared walls and adorned with Gothic tracery. This window is the lower half of the formerly much higher window in the gable wall, when a significantly higher barrel vault was built in in the 12th century, which later collapsed.
The two apses of the smaller side chapels are very carefully crafted. Contrary to their external appearance with a rectangular floor plan, the inside has the classic semicircular apsidal shape with a semi-dome. Its floor is two steps higher than the nave. The chapels are closed off towards the aisles in the plane of the head wall of the aisle with a semicircular arch made of wedge stones with a right-angled edge. With a slight setback, an accompanying quarter rod arch follows. The wedge and round bar arches stand together on pillars arranged freely in recesses in the wall, which stand on the floor and are equipped with vegetable carved capitals, profiled spars, profiled bases and angular plinths. The fighters lie at the same height as the divider arches and are connected to each other with the same fighters profiles. The quarter arch is followed by a second wedge arch, the edge of which forms the immediate end of the dome and is somewhat stilted. The inner wedge arch rests on pillars with the same equipment as the neighboring pillars. However, the height of their fighters is about the lower edge of the aforementioned capitals. The rounding of the apse is divided into three equally wide sections, whose semicircular blind arcade arches stand on pillars, with the same equipment as the aforementioned pillars. In the central arcade a round arched window has been cut out with no further architectural decoration.
Capitals in the nave
A total of 44 carved capitals have been preserved in the nave of the priory church. They cannot all be assigned to the same workshop. Some are believed to have been reused in the 12th century church. Most of them are excellent foliage capitals, the sculpture of which is freely based on ancient models. Two capitals of the south chapel are almost exact copies of an Ionic capital . Many of the capitals show severe damage that may have been inflicted on them during the revolution.
In the south aisle - with the better lighting - the capitals with the most careful sculpture have been arranged. They are attributed to the famous Mozac workshop. The subjects presented can also be found in Limagne (landscape east of Clermont-Ferrand ) . A feeling for composition, strong relief, pronounced shape and concise details are what distinguish these works of art.
For example, with the "shaft carriers" of the second south pillar: the stylization of the hair by means of strands rounded at the end with a central groove, or strands whose ends roll into round curls with holes, as in the case of naked youths whose feet turn into leaves, on the same pillar.
The next capital shows "three eagles" with outspread wings, a theme that is particularly familiar in Brioude . Or maybe it should be pelicans who tear their chests open. In any case, it is known that pelicans, like other oriental animals, were often misrepresented in the Middle Ages, as artists only knew them from oral tradition. Opposite are two young sirens with long wavy hair and a full face and tail fins made of harmoniously curved foliage. A similar capital can also be found in Brioude , but the mermaids of Chanteuges are characterized by a more closed line.
On the first pillar of the south aisle, the "punishment of the usurer" is shown in a particularly original way. The man, dressed in a long robe and headgear, in a sitting position, anxiously clasps a heavy, bulging purse with both hands, which is hung on a ribbon around his neck. This person is threatened on the two sides of the capital by two terrifying dragons with rolled up tails and open jaws.
The capitals of the darker north aisle are attributed to other workshops. Their creations are partly reminiscent of some capitals from the cathedral of Le Puy-en-Velay .
On one of the capitals of the northern chapel, a female bust with "two wolves" (?) By the ears protrudes above a row of leaves. It could be an allusion to the Latin proverb "auribus tenere lupum" .
On the back of the pillar closest to this capital is an "enigmatic motif". On the sides of the capital are two four-legged winged “griffins”, which with their raised claws have seized a boat that appears to be small between them and is floating on waves. Two people try in vain to escape the monsters by rowing vigorously. In the middle of the boat stands an abbot with a crook in hand and lifts the other up in a gesture of blessing. To date, no satisfactory interpretation of this scene has become known. In any case, it is not an episode from the life of the saints, of whom the church housed relics (see under History).
Perhaps the ship is the former Abbey of Chanteuges , which fell into the clutches of the Ithier of Mandulphe in 1130 , and which was then saved by the monks of La Chaise-Dieu and their abbot.
Shaft carrier
Eagle
siren
Punishment of usury
two griffins threaten boat
"auribus tenere lupum"
Tendrils
Young man with tendrils growing from his feet
Eagle
two griffins threaten boat with an abbot and two rowers
Facilities and decor
On the pillar between yokes two and three on the southern partition wall you can find remains of wall paintings depicting Saint Mauritius (Saint Maurice) and an inscription dedicated to Saint Marcellinus (Saint Marcellin) from the 14th century.
In yoke four of the north aisle, two rows of choir stalls that were dismantled and offset in the nineteenth century remind of the prayer of the monks in their church. The armrests and wooden partitions of the seats (French parclose ) are to be assigned to the beginning of the 16th century. In contrast, the misericords of the stalls date from the 19th century. They are a little sober, but of good quality craftsmanship. One of them, with the head of St. James , the patron saint of Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire , now adorns the offering box next to the entrance door.
In the central nave, between bays three and four, there are still traces of a rood screen that closed the monks' choir up to the 18th century.
In front of the pillars between the central and northern apses, a rare sculpture from the 12th century has been placed, depicting the Trinity in its three persons.
In the main apse there is still a water basin (French: Piscine ), which was used to clean the sacred vessels and cloths, as well as a liturgical cabinet and wall paintings from the 17th century with a decoration painted in the 13th century.
Convent building of the monastery
Contrary to the usual tradition, the convent buildings were not built on the south side of the church, but on the north side. This probably comes from the location of the early predecessor church, which was built on the site of the 11th century abbey church. At that time, it was likely that the monastery church was to be kept on the old location, and so the proximity to the southern steep slope meant that there was no longer any space for convent buildings.
Cloister
The cloister of the monastery, once the center of the priory and the former abbey, was not built directly onto the outer wall of the north aisle of the church. At first there was a gap in which today's sacristy was added later in the area of the fourth yoke. The walled-up window in the side aisle proves that this is a subsequent addition to the church. No evidence is known about the age of the sacristy and its perhaps earlier significance. It is unlikely that there were extensions in the area of yokes 2 and 3 of the church. A portal with elaborately designed garments is installed in the yoke, through which the monks entered the church from the cloister, which is now walled up. The external use of the convent building after the revolution led to partial destruction, especially in the cloister area. The existing structure has been carefully restored in recent years.
The ground plan of the former cloister is still almost completely recognizable. It is slightly rectangular, the east and west galleries extended over five arcades and were two-story. The south gallery extended over four smaller and the north gallery over three larger arcades, both were only one storey.
The east gallery has been preserved in its two-storey structure and is covered by a gently sloping gable roof, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format and has wide roof overhangs with real eaves. Its outer wall is an extension of the east wall of the nave of the church, on the edge of the vertical cliffs. The semicircular arches of the arcades, made of smooth wedge stones flush with the surface, merge into square pillars without a break. The edges of the arches and pillars are broken with wide bevels . The pillars stand on parapets of the same width, in one of them a passage is cut out. Four door-high, rectangular window openings open over the five arcades, which are framed by unevenly large ashlar blocks and the edges of which are wide bevelled. Just above the apex of the arcades, forged tie rods can be seen on the outside, which belong to the sturdy ceiling beams that formerly supported a ceiling made of wooden planks. Today you can see from below into the roof structure. The room on the upper floor was probably the monks' dormitory, but it could also have been on the opposite upper floor of the west gallery.
The only ground floor north gallery is a reconstruction from 1970. It is covered by a flat sloping pent roof, with roof covering and eaves like the east gallery. The roof structure is open on the underside. The shape of the arcades corresponds to that of the east gallery, there is a passage in one of the parapets. The north side of the north gallery and the northern two-storey head end of the east gallery are largely closed off by the south wall of the so-called "Chapel of the Abbot" (see separate section), which extends a good bit further up and has some of its buttresses. A portal opens into this chapel in the corner between the north and east galleries. In the northwest corner of the cloister there are door connections to the other convent buildings, as well as to the "House of the Abbot".
The West Gallery had prior to extensive destruction of a similar shape and size as the Ostgalerie. Only part of the outer west wall of the second floor has been preserved with two large rectangular window openings, which are framed like the windows of the east gallery. In this wall, a two-winged round-arched portal is recessed on the ground floor, the main entrance to the cloister and the other monastery buildings, through which a wagon also fit. It is framed by large-format wedge-shaped stones and blocks made of smooth stone. On the cloister side, only three ground-floor arcade fields of what used to be five arcade fields and two storeys are preserved, which are covered with a pent roof as in the north gallery. Of the remaining two arcade fields, only the ground floor outer wall with the portal and on the inside the vertical pillars and a parapet exist. The field opposite the portal does not contain a parapet. There is no evidence of the tasks of the former rooms on the upper floor.
Almost nothing is left of the south gallery . Only the vertical pillars stand up to the arches, in between all the parapets - without a passage - and from the eastern arcade the complete arch with the rest of the rising wall.
North gallery, interior
West gallery
South gallery
Church tower from the cloister
Further convent buildings
The cross-aisle corner between the north and west galleries is enclosed by two convent buildings, which together form an L-shaped floor plan. The “House of the Abbot” adjoins the west wall of the Chapelle Sainte-Anne in the same width and ends as an extension of the outer wall of the west gallery of the cloister. A second, much larger building adjoins it and still covers a good part of the west gallery. The two buildings were originally separated by a distance of almost two meters. This can be seen from the masonry structures on the north side, which prove that this distance was bricked up later. On the south side of the second house, this distance is still preserved on the upper floor. The buildings cannot be viewed from the inside today. The "abbot's house" dates from the same time as the so-called "abbot's chapel". No evidence is known about the age or importance of the second building.
Both buildings have two floors with rectangular windows on all outer sides and a storage floor with small ventilation hatches in the vertical walls. The different types of masonry indicate different construction times.
The west wall of the little “house of the abbot”, its only outer wall, was built mainly from basalt prisms in an irregular bond. Its few windows are framed by large-format, presumably reused stone, some of which have profiled edges. A small door on the upper floor leads out to a porch made of broken stone and field stones, to which one can climb a steep staircase.
The building is covered by a gently sloping pitched roof, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format. The running rainwater drips freely from a real eaves. The eaves formation of the roof consists of a projecting cornice, the visible edge of which is rounded like a valley. It rests with its horizontal underside on corbels, the front sides of which are sloping downwards.
The abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire lived in this building in the 15th century and had it converted for his personal use. He was mainly responsible for the installation of the Gothic ribbed vault of the church and for the new construction of the Chapelle Sainte-Anne (see section on history). He was able to reach the chapel from his apartment in a short distance, through the outer door on the first floor, the terrace in front of it and the south portal.
The building adjoining it today is made of scarcely prepared rubble and field stones in an irregular bond and mostly in small format. The building edges and opening frames are made of large-format, better prepared blocks of stone. Particularly noticeable is the flush grouting of the stones with white mortar, which leads to strong and irregular bulges in the joint widths , so-called sausage joints , which emphasize the joint pattern unusually strongly.
The building is covered by a flat sloping hipped roof, which is covered with the same roof tiles as the roof of the neighboring building. The lower row of tiles rests on an eaves cornice, which is formed from several layers of cantilevered roof tiles that are embedded in mortar.
In the building more convention rooms were probably housed such as: chapter house , refectory , kitchen, warming room, speech room, hospital room, storage rooms and others.
Chapelle Sainte-Anne
Dimensions
Width: 5.00 m Length: 10.00 m
The Chapelle Sainte-Anne , designed in Gothic style, is also called the “Chapel of the Abbot”. The priory owes its construction to Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire , who lived here and worked as a master builder at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The later vaulting of the church with ribbed vaults is ascribed to him. He had the chapel built in memory of his sister Anne. The south wall of the chapel forms the end of the north gallery of the cloister at the eastern end, which opens into the chapel with a beautiful portal from the flamboyant.
Outward appearance
From the outside you can see a nave with a rectangular floor plan, to which a three-sided polygonal choir apse adjoins the entire width . This apse protrudes entirely over the extension of the outer wall of the east gallery of the cloister. The eaves height is a considerable amount higher than the ridge height of the two-storey east gallery. The nave is covered with a pitched roof of almost thirty degrees, to which a roof in the form of a half eight-sided pyramid is attached above the apse. The eaves protrude a good bit with rafter heads and have copper rain gutters that drain the rainwater in a controlled manner.
The four corners of the apse, the western corners of the building and roughly the middle of the nave are marked by powerful, sweeping buttresses, some of which extend down the steep slope. Their steeply sloping tops reach just below the eaves.
In the three apse walls, slender, ogival windows are cut out between the buttresses. They are surrounded by widely spread walls clad with light gray stone slabs. The window openings are decorated with Gothic tracery in the flamboyant style.
Interior
The floor plan consists of a nave in the form of an elongated rectangle, which is closed at the east end by a polygonal three-sided choir apse. The nave is divided into two bays, the first is rectangular, the second consists of a rectangle of almost the same size, to which the previously described apse adjoins in the same width and without a caesura.
- Vaults, walls and windows
The two yokes are each covered by a Gothic ribbed vault, which is separated by a lower chord in the form of a rib that is almost twice as wide as the other ribs, but has a similar profile. The almost semicircular arch of the lower chord is only slightly pointed.
The four-part vault of the first yoke is supported by profiled ribs running diagonally, which meet in the center of the vault in a keystone , the underside of which is covered by a larger plate-like disc. Inside the disc is the coat of arms of Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire with the round rod (see a little further above), which is surrounded by Gothic tracery.
The rectangular part of the second yoke is supported by the same diagonal cross ribs, with a similar keystone. The coat of arms is adorned with the well-known miter . But two additional ribs go from this to the kink points of the apse walls.
The pointed arches on the side walls, under the vaulting, are shaped like half cross ribs, as is the rib on the west wall, with a slightly pointed curve.
At the lower end, all cross ribs merge into vertical rib-like profiles that extend to the floor. At the ends of the belt arch this unites with two cross ribs.
The masonry of the walls and vaulting consists of very dark anthracite-colored stone, which is almost white grouted.
The three ogival, slender window openings in the apse walls are framed by two quarter bars each and a wide hollow that directly adjoins the vault ribs. The openings are filled with tracery in the flamboyant style.
- Portals
The portals were restored in 1836 and 1867. A few reused reliefs have been added to the inside above the design elements, which probably come from the church of the 12th century.
The south portal already has a lavish decoration on the cloister side. The right-angled door opening, with rounded corners, is enclosed with a multi-profiled wall, which is flanked on both sides by slim pillars with a square cross-section, the multi-stepped bases of the pillars and the walls stand together on strong consoles. The pillars end just below the upper edge of the doorway and the pegs begin with base-like thickenings on which smooth shafts rise, which are crowned by tapering pyramidal giants (helmets of pinnacles) adorned with crabs . Above the doorway is an elegantly curved, profiled, flat keel arch , the lower ends of which emerge from the shafts of the pinnacles. The arc field is empty. Two large creeping flowers emerge from the halves of the arch, which meet in the middle in a towering point . The tip of the keel arch is crowned by a widely spreading finial . The finial is flanked by two coats of arms of the family of Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire , each of which consists of a shield with five vertical, elongated diamonds (French: fusées = rockets). A crook rises up behind one, a miter behind the other .
The interior of the south portal is decorated similarly to the cloister side. The multi-tiered walls are again flanked by two pillars, on which pinnacles with pointed giants also rise. In the upper part of the shafts there is an angel with the coat of arms of Jacques de Saint-Nectaire in his hands. The keel arch emerges from the outer profiles of the door frames, the tops of which bear six creeping flowers. The arched field is decorated with elegantly winding garlands and opening flowers. On the tip of the keel arch there is another large finial.
Immediately above, in the course of restoration work in the 19th century, a relief was added that shows a moving scene on a console: The fight of the Archangel Michael against the dragon. The upright angel in iron armor strikes a violent blow with a curved sword in his right hand. He fixes the kite on the ground with his left foot and holds it tight with his left. The dragon's head is destroyed.
The inside of the north portal is much more elaborate than the south portal. The rectangular door opening with rounded corners is enclosed by a wide band, the edges of which are profiled several times. Two vines with ripe grapes wind their way up the ribbon and meet in the middle of the door. On both sides of the band, two sturdy pillars with a square cross-section protrude above the two broad, knee-high brackets, the free edges of which point to the front and to the side. They end just above the tip of the keel arch with capitals like covers. In front of the two front sides of the pillars, slender, triangular pillars are faded in cross-section, which merge a little below the top edge of the door into shafts and pointed helmets of pinnacles. The sides of the pillars and shafts have niche-like depressions, the edges of which are finely profiled. The giants are decorated with crabs. A profiled keel arch winds elegantly over the band that surrounds the door, on the top of which four creeping flowers strive upwards. The center of the arch is filled with the coat of arms of Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire , but with the miter. An artistically designed finial with an octagonal base plate sits enthroned on the tip of the keel arch.
Three reliefs were added on both sides of the finial and above.
The left relief shows the hermit Saint Gilles (holy Giles , * 640, † 720) in a kneeling position is, the one in the folded hands in prayer rosary bears. Opposite him, a doe rests on the ground in the shade of two trees that, according to legend, fed him with her milk. In the background you can see a small chapel, obviously the home of the hermit.
Recycled reliefs in the Chapelle Sainte-Anne
Archangel Michael south portal
St. Gilles north portal
North portal, St. Martha with the Tarasque
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The right relief shows the legend of St. Martha (French: sainte-Marthe ), in her right hand she holds a kind of scepter. With her left hand she grips a strong band with which she has tied the monster Tarasque , which lies at her feet, spellbound (French: exorcisant ). The legs of the last human victim still protrude from its mouth. In the background on the left you can see parts of a fortified fortress on a cliff. This could indicate the location of the event, namely the city of Tarascon on the banks of the Rhone. In the background on the right you can see three large plant structures that resemble the flower buds of artichokes .
The relief above the finial depicts the so-called levitation or "elevation (French le ravissement ) of St. Mary Magdalene (French sainte Madelaine ) by the angels at the 7 times of prayer". She is said to have recorded the song of the heavenly host with her bodily ears.
An apparently unclothed female person stands facing the viewer and folds her hands. Her body is almost completely covered by her flowing loose hair, which almost reaches down to her feet. She is carried up by four little angels who support the feet and elbows of the woman with their hands. Her face shows a "transfigured" look with half-closed eyelids. The small remnants of what was previously a colored frame show a blonde to slightly yellowish tint of her hair.
In the church of Saint-André Abbey in Lavaudieu , less than 25 kilometers away, there is a fresco band on the south wall of the nave, dated 1315, with a scene on the same subject. There the foot-length head hair covers the whole body of Mary, like a fur coat.
According to Catholic tradition, Mary Magdalene is equated with the sinner who anoints Jesus' feet and is repeatedly portrayed with flowing, loose hair (as a symbol of a prostitute).
- Fixtures in the apse walls
To the left of the middle is a walled-up burial niche (French: enfeu ) near the ground , as is often found in the walls of churches. Immediately above it is a shallow niche in the form of a lying rectangle, which was perhaps once filled with a painting. Gothic decorative elements are grouped around this niche. The side, profiled walls of the niche stand on a cantilevered “window sill” and merge into a wider, extremely flat keel arch at the upper edge of the niche. A total of eight barely opened creeping flowers are arranged on the top of the arch. On the tip of the keel arch, a structure rises that is only slightly reminiscent of a finial. It is more of a capital-like core around which creeping flowers are wrapped, on top of which a fighter plate rests.
On both sides of the niche walls rise above the window sill with square, slender pillars that are divided into two sections. The top is slimmer and shorter than the bottom section. Broadened consoles have been inserted from the floor to the pillar bases. The pillars reach about the height of the top of the keel arch and are crowned by wide, projecting capital-like attachments with profiled fighters.
Figurative sculptures are installed on the three fighter plates. In the middle, St. Anne is enthroned frontally with her child, who will later become Our Lady , who is facing her on the seat of the throne on her left. The throne is framed like a niche and bordered by columns at the side. A lavishly designed canopy, in Gothic style elements, completes the seating area at the top. Anna wears a head covering, perhaps a crown, and points with her right hand to an open book. The folds of her foot-length garment appear elegant and sweeping.
On the left side you can see two male persons facing St. Anne, recognizable as monks by their clothes and hairstyle. The front smaller monk kneels and folds his hands in prayer. Immediately behind him stands the larger one, holding a kind of scepter in his right hand, probably a holy water dispenser.
On the right-hand side, facing the viewer, stands a monk with a flowing, foot-length robe and wide sleeves. With his right hand he leans on a crook that just towers over him. In the other hand he is holding a book that is open at the top, ready to read from it. It is obviously an abbot, probably Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire .
To the right of the center of the apse there are two deeper, almost square wall niches, one above the other, the side walls of which are profiled with a broad valley and a slender quarter rod. The garments stand with their bases on a kind of window sill, just above the floor. The niches are divided from one another by horizontal profiles that are similar to those of the walls. Immediately above the edge of the upper niche, the wall profiles swivel 90 ° horizontally to meet in the middle of the niche, slightly swiveled upwards. On both sides of the niches, slender square pillars rise from the floor, the lower two sections of which are of the same length, the upper one is slightly shorter and slimmer. The pillars end at the top with protruding capital-like structures and profiled transom plates. On the inside, profiles grow out of the upper sections of the pillars, following the upper garment profile as a "keel arch". Two creeping flowers are arranged on the top of the arch. The tip of the arch is crowned by a wide-spread finial. The niches were used to store and display cult objects.
Sculpture ensemble under the vaults
The sculptures reused here under the apex of the shield arches and the belt arch on the west wall belonged to a monumental crucifixion ensemble, which was probably presented in the previous building of today's church.
High up and in the center of the west wall is a "triumphant crucifixion" on Golgotha , the so-called "place of the skull" on a hill in Jerusalem on which Christ was crucified. With his arms outstretched and the crown of thorns on his head, the crucified one turns his gaze skyward. His body is carried up by angels by the arms and from below by the feet. The cross is backed by a large, almost square stone slab. As an extension of the cross beams, leaf structures are attached to the sides and above. The middle angel stands on a kind of finial, under which the coat of arms of Abbot Jacques de Saint-Nectaire is attached. The extension of the central cross bar extends a good bit further downwards, except for a large stone block rounded on the top, which symbolizes the Golgotha skull. In its center one looks into the "face" of a radiant skull, which is surrounded in a circle by a wide textile band (perhaps a tape) with rolled ends. On the side of this skull are two more facing outwards and scattered some bones. Flame-like structures can be seen between the bones and skulls.
Just below the four arches on the side walls, there is a deep relief on a wide cantilever bracket. The high altitude and the poor viewing angle make it difficult to see anything of the sculptures. But it should be about scenes of the flagellation, the crowning of thorns, the resurrection and the ascension of Christ.
- Sculptures on the floor of the choir
Another ensemble is to include a series of more than twelve statues that are placed all around the choir walls and next to the portals. Eight of them were severely mutilated by falling from higher places. Their presence in the church is documented for the end of the 18th century, that is, shortly after the French Revolution (1789).
The surviving statues are mostly female, the sources of which do not provide any information about their significance.
Woman is supporting a cross, a snake is winding around the trunk
elegantly dressed woman, with tape
2 women, one praying, the other holding tape
2 women, the left manorial. dressed, the right one with a pilgrim's staff
More buildings
The eastern part of the basalt plateau is dominated by a closed development that encloses a large rectangular courtyard on the east and north sides, which is bordered in the south by the northern convent buildings. On the west side, the courtyard is closed off by the parapet of the defensive wall, which largely surrounds and supports the plateau.
The development consists mainly of two-story houses, some with an attic that is ventilated through hatches. Civilian craftsmen, farm workers and other servants of the monastery once lived here with their families. There were rooms there for handicrafts and for dry storage of supplies. There is no doubt that the buildings were later converted to meet the requirements of the subsequent uses. Today they are used privately. Today's courtyard was an agricultural area and certainly also a kitchen garden.
Only the north wing of the development did not have any natural fortifications made of steep slopes, which were predominantly reinforced by retaining walls. Accordingly, these buildings were part of the fortification system, provided with the fortified main portal and the only level access to the plateau. Today the slightly sharpened arched passage still exists, which was also suitable for heavily loaded wagons. Notches in the walls show that the gate leaves can be locked. Remains of a former military dungeon can be seen above the outer portal arch made of large-format stone . Except for a few windows that were opened subsequently, this facade is largely closed. A massive buttress was added next to the portal, which tapers evenly from bottom to top. The inside of the north wing is hardly windowed either. In the western half there are two rectangular portals that originally had round-arched openings. A roofed grandstand with masonry parapets is installed above the main portal, which is arched on the inside. An arched doorway opens in front of her. To the right of the portal, two small windows testify to an inner staircase.
At the western end of the north wing a mighty square fortress tower loomed long before it collapsed in 1896. An old photo, which must have been taken beforehand, is evidence of this (see photo). Above all, the end of the high road on the west side of the plateau, the Calades, could be controlled from here. The tower was almost twice as high as the current building, which corresponds to its lower part. The windows in its west wall are more recent.
In contrast to the stone wall surfaces of the convent building and the church, the walls of these buildings are lightly plastered except for small parts. All buildings are covered by gable roofs with red hollow tiles. Their eaves are supported by cornices made of roof tiles set in mortar.
The elongated basalt cliff is surrounded on the west side of the east side and in sections on the east side with unusually high retaining walls made of basalt prisms. The walls, which are inclined slightly inwards, are partially reinforced by huge buttresses, the edges of which are made of large-format stone. On the east side, in the area of the choir apsides of the church, the abbot's chapel and the east gallery of the cloister, the bare rock faces rise high, mostly made of almost vertical basalt prisms. The walls made it possible to fill in the originally safely rounded crest of the rock horizontally and thus to enlarge the usable area of the plateau. The upper edges of the retaining walls extend well beyond the plateau surface and thus form a parapet that could be used for defense purposes.
Defense walls of the "fortress"
West side with Calades (driveway)
West side
from the southwest
from the south
literature
- Bernhard Craplet: Romanesque Auvergne. Würzburg 1992, pp. 335–331, picture pages 124–130, ISBN 3-429-01463-8 .
- Brochure: “laissez-vous conter le village de Chanteuges”; Conception LM communiquer: Laurence Madrelle, Emanuelle Robin. 6 pages, from the tourist office (undated)
- Dictionnaire des églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse (Tome II-B), Robert Laffont, Paris (France); Pp. 38-39.
- Courtillé, Anne Auvergne, Bourbonnais, Velay gothiques, Editions A. et J. Picard, Paris (France), ISBN 2708406833 , 2002; Pp. 176-183.
Web links
Coordinates: 45 ° 4 ′ 23 ″ N , 3 ° 32 ′ 1 ″ E