Saint-Ruf Abbey
The former Abbey of Saint-Ruf in Avignon , a city in Provence on the eastern bank of the Rhone , was founded in the 11th / 12th centuries. Century erected. The remains of the abbey in what is now the Saint-Ruf district have been a protected architectural monument ( Monument historique ) since 1889 .
history
On 1 January 1039 the four established here canons of the cathedral chapter of the Cathedral of Avignon , a new collegiate church , which soon become a congregation possessed ( "Ordre de Saint-Ruf") developed and many daughter abbeys. The motherhouse was moved to Valence in 1158 .
Saint-Ruf was badly damaged during the Albingens Wars and rebuilt in the second half of the 12th century. As early as the 17th century, due to the previous destruction, the abbey fell into disrepair. Today only the choir head and the transept , which are fortified and crowned with battlements, remain .
Choir
The choir consists of a polygonally encased central apse and two semicircular lateral apses - all made of carefully worked stone . The central window of the central apse differs from the side windows in that it has set columns with capitals and a semicircular bulge; the side windows of the central apse have only a circumferential bulge without an intermediate capital. The arched windows of the side apses, which are only cut into the masonry, are covered by an ornamented horizontal lintel .
Inside the central apse shows three arched windows , which are surrounded by archivolts , which in turn rest on slender fluted columns. The middle window is more richly ornamented than the two on the side. While the apse vault is semicircular in shape, the preserved vault approach to the nave already shows a pointed barrel vault . All the vaults are perfectly bricked. The fluting typical of Romanesque architecture in Provence can also be found on the remaining half-columns and pilasters.
Bell tower
The tower is largely built of quarry stone - only the corners and the upper part are entirely made of large, carefully crafted house stones. In the upper area there are twin windows on all sides that rest on a slim central column.
literature
- Guy Barruol / Jean-Maurice Rouquette: Travel routes through the Romanesque Provence . Echter Verlag , Würzburg 1993, ISBN 3-429-01506-5 , p. 27.
- Jean-Maurice Rouquette: Provence novels I . Zodiaque, 2nd edition, La Pierre-qui-Vire 1980, pp. 234-235 (without ISBN).
Web links
- Saint-Ruf Abbey: Description as Monument historique in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French text)
Coordinates: 43 ° 55 ′ 58 " N , 4 ° 48 ′ 46" E