Collégiale St-Pierre (Le Dorat)
The Collegiate Church of St-Pierre is a medieval church in the middle of the French town of Le Dorat in the Haute-Vienne department , in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region , 12 km north of Bellac , 48 km north-west of Limoges and 76 km south-east of Poitiers .
The collegiate church is listed in art travel guides as one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in the Limousin . It was essentially built from gray granite during the 12th century . Its floor plan is on a Latin cross . It is a spacious building, but its interior is particularly dark, especially its central nave without windows in the upper storey . In terms of external appearance, the mostly still intact defense-technical fortifications built in the 15th century stand out, such as the defense tower above the eastern apex chapel and the defense atticsover the eaves and on the sides of the western clock tower. They gave the building its unusually massive character. It was listed as a historical monument in 1846.
On an older information leaflet in the church, the church is named Collégiale St-Pierre-aux-Liens . This means something like the collegiate church of Saint Peter in chains and is intended to point to the imprisonment of the apostles Peter and Paul before their execution.
Historical
In 866 the church and monastery buildings of the former Scotorum were looted and burned down by the Normans . The settlement got its name from the Scottish missionaries , who are considered to be its founders. The large Carolingian baptismal font in the second central nave yoke, in which adult baptism was probably still practiced, probably comes from this or one of the other predecessor buildings of today's collegiate church.
In 950 they built or reconstructed a church there, which they dedicated to Saint Michel ( Archangel Michael ).
Around 980, Boson I. le Vieux (the old man) (958-988), the first Earl (Count) of the Marche and Count of Périgord , set up a collegiate monastery of Le Dorat with 20 canons near St-Michel , and built it them a chapel dedicated to St. Peter . Among their successors were the monks Israël (950-1014), from a noble family of Le Dorat and his pupil Theobald (990-1070), from a respected family of a farmer near the city, both because of their donations to the needy and the Healings and miracles at her grave site were later named the patron saint of Le Dorat .
In 1013 the inhabitants of Magnac-Laval (6 km west of Le Dorat) set a new fire at the collegiate church, commanded by Stephan de Muret, Baron de Magnac, during a war between Comte Bernard (Count) de la Marche (1010– 1041) and Hughues V. (Hugo) de Lusignan († 1060).
In 1063, the newly built collegiate church was consecrated, which was cremated again 17 years later in 1080.
The pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain began towards the end of the 11th century . Its greatest heyday took place in the first half of the 12th century, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims moved south every year. The Way of St. James in France was formed from four main routes, accompanied by a network of numerous secondary routes. Numerous new churches, monasteries, hospices, hostels and cemeteries were built along these paths, and existing facilities were expanded to meet the new requirements. For a pilgrimage church, above all, large areas of movement were needed for the numerous pilgrims , such as the ambulatory and side aisles , and as many chapels as possible for the presentation of relics and their veneration.
Le Dorat was located near one of the side roads between the two main routes Via Touronensis and Via Lemovicensis , between Poitiers and Limoges , and his monastery naturally wanted to participate in the donations made by the pilgrims to St. James . However, this required the construction of a large pilgrimage church.
In 1107 there was another violent conflict between the chapter of Le Dorat and the Comtesse Almodis de la Marche (attested in 1079/1132).
In 1112, the canons of the monastery began building what is now known as the collegiate church of St-Pierre. The first execution campaign included the entire choir head with three radial chapels and the two transept chapels . Presumably this also included the previous construction of the large crypt under the choir head, which was dedicated to St Anne. In the French sources there is a reference that the construction of the crypt is said to have started as early as the late 11th century.
On January 27, 1130, around the time this first section was completed, the bones of St. Israel and St. Theobald were lifted from their tombs and transferred in a procession to the new choir of the future collegiate church. Their relics were displayed on the altar for veneration by the faithful. They were eventually taken to the crypt, where they were placed in two granite tombs made by a mason named Legros. The choir and the crypt were dedicated to them as the patron saints of Le Dorat.
Each time one of the four execution sections was completed, it was temporarily closed on its west side in order to make it accessible to the steadily growing crowd of pilgrims for worship and for the worship of relics and to expand it in sections to the west.
Around 1130, the second execution campaign began, which included the transept, with the crossing and the two transept arms, and the fifth yoke of the nave . The crossing bell tower could not be completed until the beginning of the 13th century, possibly with the pointed Gothic helmet.
The third construction campaign began around 1145, with parts of the first bay and the two and three bays of the nave, which went into the fourth construction campaign around 1160, in which the first bay of the nave, the tower of the westwork and the facade were completed were built.
In 1170, after a construction period of almost sixty years, the new collegiate church of St-Pierre du Dorat was inaugurated.
It can be assumed that the originally smaller convent buildings of the predecessor churches were significantly expanded or even completely new and more extensive in the course of the new construction of the collegiate church on its south side. This also applies to rooms for looking after the pilgrims.
When the quarrels between France and England over Aquitaine began after the middle of the 12th century , the pilgrimage declined. The later wars of the 13th and 15th centuries Century, such as the Hundred Years War (1339-1453), brought a dramatic slump and led to an almost complete cessation of the streams of pilgrims to Spain. Accordingly, after the completion of its large pilgrimage church, the chapter of St-Pierre could no longer participate in the donations received from pilgrims.
In the following years, Le Dorat was repeatedly plagued by armed attacks and often changed the fronts of the warring parties, sometimes in the hands of the French, sometimes in the hands of the English.
At that time, Le Dorat only had wooden fortifications made up of palisades and barriers, which underwent various changes over the years.
So they were destroyed in 1298 by Hugo de Lusignan (1270-1303), Count of the Marche, and shortly thereafter rebuilt at the instigation of Philippe IV. Le Bel (the Beautiful) (1268-1314), a King of France.
In 1424, the abbot William de Dorat, "the hermit", undertook to build massive stone fortifications in the city to protect the abbey and city from new invasions. The churches of St-Michael and St-Peter were included in the fortress system. The work on the defensive facilities lasted from around 1420 to 1431. This is still evident today from a number of defense-related modifications and additions to the collegiate church.
The first thing you notice is the fortified tower built on the axial apex chapel to the east , which adopts the outline of the chapel and towers over it by almost the same height. Its almost complete closeness, a few loopholes and three military guards with twin machicolations reveal its former military importance. It is also called the Tour Notre-Dame .
Further facilities for the defense of the building are the conversions of the former Romanesque eaves in Wehrattiken from parapet walls and behind them with wide accessible gutters, which are drained to the outside via stone gargoyles . The defenders could find cover behind these. The eaves of the nave, both the central nave and the side aisles, as well as those of the transept and the choir head were equipped with this. The ambulatory and the chapels have been left out and still have their original shape.
Another defensive facility is located above the north aisle next to the tower in the first nave yoke, which was also subsequently built in the 15th century. There is obviously a second storey there, which is hidden behind defensive walls that protrude above the storey as a defense attic. This presumably housed an additional room that the defenders used to store their weapons and missile arsenal.
In today's garden on the south side of the church, the round stump of the St-Antoine tower, which was once part of the city's defensive wall, has been preserved. The massive city walls stretched over a total of about six hundred meters, which were equipped with twenty large watchtowers, four city gates and six other towers. The wars of religion from 1562 to 1598 between the Catholic League and the Huguenots did not spare the city and its churches despite its well-fortified fortifications. On November 2, 1567, after a three-day siege, the city was captured by a troop of 15,000 Huguenots under the command of the 83-year-old Seigneur de Saint-Cyr. 400 people were killed and a ransom of £ 3,600 had to be paid. The devastation lasted four days, during which the looted and numerous relics, ornaments, statues, the organ and other treasures were mostly destroyed by burning.
Until the end of the 16th century, the inhabitants were victims of extortion and riots of all kinds by the troops passing through.
In 1572 the court room of the Seneschal of Le Dorat was set up in the St-Michel chapel, which was still preserved at that time. This chapel was on the current location of the Carmel's visitor room .
The Wars of Religion ended with the Edict of Nantes on April 13, 1598 . Quiet returned to Le Dorat, too, which has meanwhile been named the capital of the Basse Marche.
In 1624 three Benedictine nuns from the Abbey of La Trinité de Poitiers came and found a new home in the Convent of Le Dorat. Among them was Catherine Pidoux, who made sure that a girls' school was founded and operated here in 1656, which was free to attend. She died that same year at the age of 66. 22 nuns from the monastery then worked at the school, and it lasted until the nuns were imprisoned in 1792, three years after the outbreak of the French Revolution .
The city fortifications fell into disrepair since the beginning of the 18th century, as Le Dorat lost its military importance.
In the year of the revolution in 1789 and in the years that followed, a large part of the former convent buildings or what was left of them from the turmoil of the wars of religion was sold as common property for demolition. No information can be found in the sources about the disappearance of these buildings or that of the Church of St-Michel.
Soon there was another small seminar run by former nuns, which was very popular as a school. However, it was subject to the legally introduced separation of church and state.
In 1848 the collegiate church of St-Pierre du Dorat was listed as a historical monument.
On July 10, 1856, the Carmel of Le Dorat was founded, a small Carmelite monastery . It was built on the site of the oldest predecessor churches of the monastery, namely St-Michel in the south of St-Pierre and in the vicinity of the remains of the old city walls. The Chapel of Carmel was inaugurated on October 4, 1882.
In 1910 the seminary was expanded to include a girls' high school , which still exists today and dates back to the founding of Sister Katherine (Pidoux) in 1656.
Building
Dimensions , approximate dimensions, taken from the floor plan and extrapolated:
- Overall length outside (without pillar protrusions): 74.70 m
- Longhouse length (without pillar templates): 44.00 m
- Width of the nave (without pillar protrusions): 20.00 m
- Inside width of the nave: 15.90 m
- Inner nave width (between the partitions): 7.90 m
- External transept length (without pillar projections): 38.80 m
- Inside transept width: 7.40 m
- Projections across the nave opposite the nave (without pillars): 10.00 m
- Choir length inside (without access): 9.40 m
- Tower cross height above ground: around 60.00 m
Outward appearance
The whole church building is made of large-format stone made of hard gray granite , which gives it a solid character. The flat sloping roof surfaces of the nave and transept and that of the choir and its handling are covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format, also called monk-nun tiles, the roof surfaces of the steeply inclined wooden spiers with small-format gray slate tiles . The steeply inclined conical roofs over the chapels and the pyramids of the small stair turrets are covered with flat granite slabs without covering.
Longhouse with clock tower
The nave is on an elongated rectangular three-aisle floor plan , which in five about equal width yokes is divided. Its elevation (cross-section) is that of a pseudo-basilica , without windows in the upper aisle . You can see both clearly from the outside. The yoke subdivision is done by strong rectangular buttresses on the aisle walls, the depth of which on both sides of the first yoke is twice as great as that of the others. The jump from the upper storey is so small that you cannot see any buttresses on the outside. The buttresses of the side aisle walls are steeply sloping on the top, covered with flat panels and end just below the cornices on cantilever consoles of the original eaves . The buttresses on both sides of the first yoke rise significantly higher due to their greater depth.
In the middle between the buttresses there is a medium-sized round arched window, the apex of which lies a short distance below the eaves. The walls are widened outwards all around, the edges of which are resolved into wall offsets into which three-quarter round bars are inserted. The base of the arches is marked by simply carved capitals .
In the third yoke on the north side is a round-arched blind arcade inserted, in which a rectangular portal opening is recessed for a single-wing door, by a roof-like manner to the sides bevelled monolithic support beam is covered. The portal is flanked at a certain distance by rectangular pillars with a bevel on the top, which do not quite reach the top of the blind arcade. A semicircular pilaster is shown in the middle of each template . This is enclosed together with the template by a fighter profile. The parapet of the window above is a little higher than the rest. At its height, a profiled cantilevered cornice runs over the entire width of the yoke and the sides of the pillar and swings upwards like a roof on the parapet.
The central nave is covered by a flat sloping gable roof, the two side aisles by equally flat pitched pent roofs . All of their eaves originally had the classic shape of the eaves in Romanesque architecture, in which the rainwater can drip off freely over projecting roof coverings and over eaves with cantilever brackets. At that time the roof surfaces were a little lower than they are today or were more steeply inclined. This older construction can still be found here on the eaves of the ambulatory and the eastern chapels. In the course of the defense-related retrofitting of the remaining eaves in the 15th century (see section History), the defense attics, which are still completely preserved today, were created with accessible gutters behind them, behind which the defenders of the structure could take cover. With this frequently occurring change in the eaves formation, the rainwater is drained to the outside via numerous stone gargoyles. The former stone eaves cornices on corbels lost their actual constructive role. However, the mostly elaborately carved console stones and their cornice coverings have been preserved as a purely decorative element and the parapets built over them. In contrast to other church buildings, the closely spaced eaves of the side aisles and the central aisle have been retrofitted with defense rattles.
The side aisles, in the area of the first yoke, directly past the clock tower, have been raised by one floor as part of the defense equipment. Here, too, remains of the original eaves are preserved in the form of pieces of cornice on corbels. The heights were covered over the former eaves sections with a closed wall, which protrudes above the new roof as a defense attic. In the middle of this wall there is a twin blind arcade, the middle column of which is missing. In the course of the aforementioned increase in storeys and the resulting higher loads on this vault section, the first two buttresses of the side aisles were very likely significantly reinforced and raised. On an old postcard photo from before the First World War, a pent roof can be seen above this addition, leaning against the tower and covering an entire floor there.
As an extension of the two spiral staircases in the massive masonry of the western building corners, octagonal stair turrets originally rose about three meters above the aisle roofs , which were connected to the neighboring tower with pieces of wall. Not only the tower, but also the two defense-technical heights were accessed via these stairs. Its walls are covered with double-tiered cornice panels. On each stand there are eight columns, which are equipped with simply carved capitals and fighters. They carry eight wedge arches with closed spandrels, which are crowned by a stone helmet made of a steep octagonal pyramid, the eaves of which are marked with double-stepped cantilever profiles. Its point ends in a round stone pommel.
A two-storey square clock tower rises above the central nave in the first yoke , which apart from a single round-arched window opening on the lower storey above the main portal has no other openings. Accordingly, it cannot be a bell tower. This tower looks rather squat, which perhaps suggests that its planners thought of a later elevation. The lower tower storey, which contains a high-lying pendent dome on the inside, originally protruded from the pent roofs of the side aisles and the facade, but was largely covered on the east side by the gable roof of the central nave. Today it is also covered by the subsequent additions on the north and south sides of the tower. On the only free west side, three almost story-high blind arcades are deeply embedded, the round arches of which are slightly pointed and separated by rectangular pillars. Their arch approaches are marked by simply profiled fighters. The central arcade almost entirely fills a slightly pointed window that illuminates the pendentive dome. The second, completely closed tower storey recedes significantly compared to the first and is slightly higher than the lower one. Four blind arcades of shallow depth with pointed round arches are let into it again almost at full height. They are separated from one another by three three-quarter round columns, which are equipped with simply profiled bases and fighters. The arch approaches of the outer arcades are marked by transom profiles. The upper floor is closed off by a simple right-angled cantilever cornice.
Above the cantilevered cornice, the eaves of the small-format gray slate roofing of the wooden spire protrude slightly. It has the shape of a steep four-sided pyramid, the top of which is capped, which is replaced by an eight-sided lantern that is open on all sides and above it with a small eight-sided pyramid. A tower clock with gold-plated letters and pointers is installed about halfway up the helmet on each side, and is enclosed by a kind of dormer window with a gable roof. The top of the spire is crowned by a wrought-iron cross.
The facade has the same eaves height as the original eaves of the side aisles and also ends laterally as an extension of the outer wall surfaces. Its vertical surface is still well in front of the west wall of the lower tower floor.
The facade is dominated by the main portal , a four-tier archivolt portal that reveals Mozarabic influences. Two round-arched, slightly pointed portal openings stand next to each other in the background of a large arcade niche, the reveal of which is divided into four-way stepped setbacks. The four semicircular, sharp-edged (right-angled) stepped wedge arches from the outside to the inside are each provided with seven arch- like bulges, the widths of which decrease evenly from the outside to the inside. The arch setbacks merge at their ends into vertical, equally sharp-edged wall setbacks. Three-quarter round bars are inserted into the angles of the setbacks, which precisely follow the straight lines and bulges of the arches. At the height of the arches, the round bars are equipped with simple capitals. The outer round wedge arch is covered by a double-rounded cantilever profile, the ends of which are on horizontal transom profiles. The apex of the cantilever profile reaches almost below the eaves of the facade.
The two slender, round-arched, slightly pointed door openings are framed by two wall and arch setbacks, the reveal edges of which are strongly rounded. The arch approaches are marked by simply carved capitals. There are four arches on three pillars between the two doors. In the middle of the arched area above the doors there is a sculpture of Saint-Pierre on a console, which holds up his attribute, the key to the sky.
The main portal is flanked on both sides by two slender, deep and round-arched arcade niches, in the upper areas of which a round-arched window is cut out, which additionally illuminates the first aisle bays.
Transept with crossing bell tower
The transept overhangs the width of the nave by around 10 meters (without pillars). Its roof and former eaves are at the same level as those of the nave. The conversion of the original Romanesque eaves in Wehrattiken in the 15th century corresponded exactly to that of the central nave, these still meet today at the same height on the crossing tower. The gable walls on the north and south arms of the transept even tower above the defensive attics, which were later increased. The repaired joints in the gable seem to indicate that the masonry was added later. Their sloping tops are covered by double-stepped plates and swing a short distance into the horizontal at the lower ends. The gable ridge is crowned with a Celtic cross with a ring.
The outer building edges of the transept are stiffened by massive rectangular buttresses, which are slightly removed from them. With an unchanged cross-section, they extend over the entire height of the piers, are steeply sloping outwards on the top and end just below the height of the old eaves. About the same windows as in the nave aisles are cut out in its west walls. However, its parapet is a little higher.
In the gable wall of the north arm of the transept, the arched, slightly pointed opening of the two-winged north portal is cut out in a dimension of 2.50 × 4.00 meters. It steps back towards the front of the buttresses flanking it by their depth. The resulting deep reveal is stepped back with five sharp edges on the sides and in the arch. The second setback from the outside is particularly deep. Three-quarters of round rods are worked into the angles of the setbacks one, three to five, the arch approaches of which are marked by figuratively carved capitals in almost white limestone. The outer wedge arch runs flush with the outside of the buttresses and is covered by a multi-profiled cantilever cornice that swings horizontally at the level of the arches and is guided to the outer edge of the buttresses. The gussets above the cornice are also walled up flush with the surface. This masonry ends shortly above with an eaves cornice on carved cantilever consoles, above which the stone slab covering of the pent roof protrudes slightly between the buttresses.
In the gable wall of the north arm of the transept, a large window is cut out above the aforementioned north portal, a three-tiered arched archivolt window. The outer wall-flush wedge arch fits exactly between the buttresses. The arches are just below the top of the pillars. Three-quarters of round bars are embedded in the corners of the four sharp-edged recesses of the reveal, the arch approaches of which are marked with carved capitals. The parapet, directly above the monopitch roof ridge, consists of three sharp-edged steps. There is an almost identical window on the gable wall of the southern arm of the transept. In the middle of this wall there is a door opening with an arch, which has a double-leaf door. That was probably a connection to the convent buildings that were formerly adjoining there.
From the Ostwänden the transepts each have a semi-circular in plan view occurs chapel apse forth, which are covered with a steep conical roof, which turns even in a short distance gabled roof. It is covered with stone slabs that end on eaves cornice slabs supported by figuratively sculpted cantilever consoles. Its ridge is just below the corbels of the former transept eaves.
In the axis of the chapel, a round-arched window is cut out, the reveal edges of which are set back, with three-quarters of round bars inserted at the angles. Their arch approaches are marked by capitals. The window is flanked by two buttresses, which are steeply sloping on the top and end a little below the eaves. At the level of the lower edge of the bevel, the free sides are marked with horizontal transom profiles. Above about two thirds of the pillar height, the outside of the templates jumps back a little.
The octagonal three-storey bell tower rises above the square crossing . Between the approaching gable roofs of the nave and transept and the choir, one can still see the octagonal closed tower base, which encloses the pendentives of the crossing, which is closed on all sides by a cantilever profile. The roofs of the long and transept roofs and that of the choir are level with this profile. The sloping roof surfaces keep a little distance from the sides of the base, into which stone stairs are inserted. They enabled the defenders to quickly switch between the Wehrattiken.
The first tower floor follows with a slight setback on all sides, which is broken through on each of the eight sides by a round-arched, slim window that stands directly on the base. The floor is also known as a “lantern” or, seen from the inside, as a drum that stands on pendentives and carries the upper pendentive dome. The window reveals are stepped four times with sharp setbacks, in the angles of which three-quarters round bars are inserted, the arched transitions of which are marked with capitals. Not far above the outer apex of the wedge arches, the first floor is closed by a significantly larger setback, which is covered on the top with flaky stone slabs.
The second tower floor is slightly less high than the first, but remains completely closed. It hides the upper part of the pendentive dome. Each of the eight sides are decorated with two blind arcades, the arches of which are shaped like three-sided tracery with sharp edges. These stand in the middle of the field, as well as on the octagonal edges, on slender three-quarter round columns, which are equipped with simply carved capitals and massive fighters. Immediately on the wedge stones of the arches, the storey is closed by a somewhat tighter setback than the previous one, but how this one is covered.
The third and last floor of the tower houses the bell chamber and is significantly higher than the previous two. On each of the eight sides, a large arched arcade is embedded horizontally and vertically, which is divided into two slender arched arcade openings. Sound lamellas bevelled towards the outside define them as sound arcades. Three-quarters round bars are inserted into the angles of the setbacks of the larger arcades, the arches of which are marked by capitals. Inside, the narrow arcade arches stand together on slender columns with capitals.
The wooden tower spire , with a small gray slate roofing, has the shape of a steeply rising eight-sided pyramid, which stands at the bottom on a flat truncated pyramid, the sides of which are significantly less inclined and protrude slightly over the walls of the third tower floor as an eaves. The top of the tower is crowned about 60 meters above the ground by a metal sphere 36 centimeters in diameter. on which the sculpture of a 1.30 meter high angel made of gilded copper stands. The latter holds a delicate cross on a long, thin stick.
Between the transept chapels and the ambulatory, an octagonal stair tower protrudes from the nested roof areas, in which a stone spiral staircase leads from the church floor up to the former eaves. The shape of these turrets and their upper covers correspond to those over the western building edges of the nave.
Choir head
The head of the choir is also recognizable from the outside as it is divided into the one-bay choir with a semicircular apse, the ambulatory surrounding it, and three radial chapels attached to it. The choir has the same heights as the central nave adjoining on the opposite side. It is covered with a piece of flat sloping gable roof, which is followed by a half-conical roof with the same inclination without any caesuras. From the original classic eaves of this roof, the eaves cornice panels on carved cantilever consoles are still preserved today. Above this, however, are the defensive attics, which were retrofitted in the 15th century, as described in the section on the nave and which correspond to them.
From the ambulatory , and ambulatory called a short wall sections between the bands and the guided around the lectern roof can be seen of the ambulatory. Round-arched windows are recessed in these wall pieces, which correspond to those in the transept chapels, but are significantly larger. The eaves still have the original classic shape, their eaves tiles protrude over eaves cornice panels, which are supported by carved cantilever consoles. The monopitch roof ridge is just below the cantilever consoles on the choir wall. The ambulatory can do without separate buttresses, since this task is taken over by the apsidal walls of the chapel wreath.
The two outer radial chapels have been preserved as originally and correspond roughly to the transept chapels described above. The tops of their conical roofs protrude well above the eaves of the gallery. The axial apex chapel is only preserved to just below its former eaves. The stone conical roof of this chapel was demolished in the course of the defense equipment of the church in the 15th century and replaced by the addition of a fortified tower, which is called the Tour Notre-Dame . In contrast to the rest of the building, it was raised from mostly small-format broken and field stone masonry in an irregular bond. It adopts the outline of the chapel and is closed with a flat wall above the roof area of the gallery. It is covered on the top by a flat sloping roof with red tile roofing that protrudes slightly on all sides. Under these eaves protrude three battlements , each erected on three-tiered cantilever consoles, between which two round-arched machiculis open. The cantilever consoles are carved with masks under each step. In the front wall of the bay window there is an arrow slit. In the upper area of the tower there are various small rectangular openings and cross-shaped loopholes.
The terrain in the area of the choir head has sloped so sharply that the outer walls of the crypt, which correspond to those of the choir head, protrude from it to a large extent. This allows a fairly good daytime exposure with small arched windows, each under the windows of the ambulatory and the chapels.
Interior
Almost all walls, arches, pillars, templates and similar components are made of stone-faced, medium-sized stone made of dark gray granite and grouted with light, almost white mortar. Vaulted surfaces, including the domes, are smoothly plastered with light-colored mortar that shows strong signs of decomposition.
Longhouse
The three-aisled nave stands on an elongated rectangular floor plan, is divided into five almost equally wide bays and shows the elevation of a pseudo-basilica , without an upper storey window. The latter, in conjunction with the gray granite, creates a particularly dark impression in the interior of the nave, especially when the sky is overcast. In the first yoke a monumental staircase leads over the entire width of the nave over twelve steps down, which reminds of the number of the apostles .
The arcade openings of the partition walls with sharp (right-angled) soffit edges are relatively high, which means that the groin vaults above the aisles are also very high. The approaches of the arcade arches are marked with transom profiles.
The beginnings of the pointed barrel vaults of the central nave lie just above the apex of the rounded, slightly pointed arcade arches and are marked by cantilever cornices in the form of quarter bars. At different distances above these cantilevered cornices, once or twice per yoke, there are small round-arched openings, which are interpreted in a French source as ventilation openings in the roof spaces. However, it is also conceivable that they could be used in the course of the defensive facilities as loopholes against attackers who penetrated the church.
The pillars of the partition walls have cruciform cross-sections, the arms of which facing the naves are almost twice as wide as those that border the arcades. They are as wide as the partitions are thick. The cross arms facing the central nave become wall pillars further up next to the arch spandrels, and those at the height of the vault attachments merge into girdle arches of equal width . Half-round old services , which are equipped with plant-based carved capitals and strong profiled fighters , are overlaid on these vertical templates . These fighters are led around the sharp-edged wall templates and hit the quarter bars of the same height at the height of the vaults. Further belt arches rise above the fighters, which support the wide belt arches under the vaults and merge with them. The pillars between bays four and five have setbacks of their soffit edges to the center of the nave as far as the transom of the arches, in which semicircular services are set, which are equipped with carved capitals.
The broad cross arms of the pillars pointing to the side aisles reach up a good half a meter higher than the arches of the partition arcades. Significantly narrower pillar templates with right-angled cross-sections at the same height are displayed in front of them. On the outer walls of the side aisles, wall pillars of the same width and height are opposite, but with deeper cross-sections. The pillars bear equally wide, sharp-edged, stilted arcade pointed arches. The arch approaches are marked by transom profiles, the visible edges of which are generously rounded. Plastered masonry is inserted between the wedge-shaped arches and the shield arches of the vaults. The vault borders extend down to the fighters of the pillars. On the outer walls, 60 centimeter high plinths are built between the pillars, which have always been coveted in pilgrimage churches.
The first yoke of the central nave was covered with a pendentive dome instead of a barrel vault . The stone pendants, as segments of a hanging dome, are connected to one another on the walls of the square room with sharp-edged round, slightly pointed wedge stone arches, the ends of which stand in pairs on wall projections with a square cross-section in the corners of the room, the meeting points of which are marked by profiled fighters. The upper edges of the pendentives form the circular edge of the actual hemispherical dome and are marked by a profiled cornice.
In all yokes of the aisles, round-arched windows are cut out in the middle of the upper half of the wall, the walls and parapets of which are widened inward. The edges of the drapery are set back, in which three-quarters of the round rods are embedded and the arch approaches are marked with simple capitals. In the third yoke on the north wall there is a single-wing rectangular side door. The parapet of the window above has been placed a little higher than the rest. On the western end of the side aisles there is a small round arched window. Shortly next to it, small doors to the spiral stairs are set into the massive masonry.
In the west wall of the central nave there is a large, round-arched but pointed blind arcade of the main portal, in the rear wall of which two single-wing, unusually high portal openings with pointed round arches are recessed, the arches of which meet together on a column that is closed by a capital. In the center above the portal there is a large round arched window, the apex of which almost touches the arch between the pendentives. Its walls widen slightly inwards, but its parapet sloping steeply downwards.
The arcades in the wall to the transept and their pillars hardly differ from the yoke-dividing arcades, both in the central nave and in the aisles.
Transept with crossing
The shape and height of the vaulting approaches of the central nave are taken over from those of the transept and the choir. This also applies to the transom profiles at the same height, which enclose all parts of the pillars. The transept arms are slightly narrower than the central nave and are covered by pointed barrel vaults. As an extension of the outer walls of the aisles and the ambulatory, they are subdivided by arcades of semicircular services and girders with rectangular cross-sections. The base of the arches is marked by plant-carved capitals and sweeping transom profiles.
In the gable wall of the southern arm of the transept, a large, arched window is cut out in the upper half, the reveals of which are set back three times and three-quarters round bars are incorporated into the angles. Their arch approaches are marked by capitals. The parapet is also stepped. At the lower edge, a double-leaf door is installed in the middle in a rectangular opening that is covered by an arched arch. Here there was a connection to the formerly adjoining convent buildings.
In the gable wall of the northern arm of the transept there is an almost identical window as in the southern one. Exactly below is the large two-winged portal opening with a pointed round arch.
In the outer sections of the east walls of the transept arms, arched arcades of the apses of the transept chapels open up. In the setbacks of the reveal edges, three-quarter round bars are embedded, the arch approaches of which are marked with capitals. The vault consists of a short piece of barrel to which half a spherical cap is directly connected. It is supported by three round arched blind arcades that stand on semicircular young ministries with capitals. In the central arcade there is a small round arched window with inwardly widened walls, the edges of which are broken up into setbacks, into which in turn partly round bars with capitals are inserted.
The crossing pillars, which carry the pendentive dome of the crossing together with the loads of the bell tower, have almost square cores in plan and each have semicircular old services on three sides, twice towards the crossing arcades and once towards the aisles or the ambulatory . The connections of the partitions remain rectangular templates. The services are again equipped with plant-carved capitals and wide, projecting transom profiles. The edges of the belt arches above show strong setbacks, as with those in the central nave. These setbacks also form the arches between the pendants , which reach down to the edges of the pier cores. The pendants are closed together on the top with a circular double rod profile. The arched edges facing the transept arms are not stepped.
Above it stands an octagonal drum on each side of which a smaller round arched window is cut out. Its reveals are stepped back three times, in the inner corners of which slender round bars are embedded, the arches of which are marked with simple capitals. The outer curved rods meet together on a somewhat thicker column in the corners of the drum. The parapets of the windows are steeply sloping inwards. A rounded cantilever profile closes the tambour immediately on the outer wedge arches. An octagonal dome rests on it, the ridges of which are barely noticeable. An eight-pass oculus opens at the top of the dome , through which the bells can be transported, presumably also building materials and equipment, during the construction and subsequent maintenance of the tower.
Gallery crossing and crossing capitals
Crossing, south arm of the transept, central nave
Crossing, pendentives and tambour
2 crossing capitals, grimace eats tendrils
2 crossing capitals, 2 lions hold people overhead
Choir head
The head of the choir consists essentially of the building parts to the east of the transept, i.e. the choir, the ambulatory , also the ambulatory , and the chapel wreath.
The choir has only a rectangular choir bay, roughly the width of the central nave, to which a semicircular choir apse is attached. The ambulatory begins on both sides of the choir bay as an extension of the two side aisles and is circular in the same width around the curve of the apse. The three radial chapels of the chapel wreath consist of the central apex chapel and the two adjacent chapels, which are pivoted radially by exactly 45 degrees from the center of the apse and circumference.
The choir bay is covered by a pointed barrel vault, the approaches of which are exactly at the level of those of the central nave and the transept arms and how these are marked. The partition walls between the choir bay and the gallery are pierced with round arched, sharp-edged arcade openings, the apex of which remains a little below the vaulting. Their arch approaches are marked by profiled fighters. The choir bay and choir apse are separated by an arcade made of old services, with carved capitals and profiled fighters on which a right-angled belt arch stands up. The curved partition between the choir apse and the outpatient clinic is only two layers high plus the final cornice profile. The curved groin vault connects in this area. The dividing wall is supported by five arcades of the same height but of different widths in the apse gallery. The same height is achieved through different heights of stilts on the sharp-edged arcade arches. The outer arcades and the central one are significantly wider than the two very slender arcades that separate them. The almost square stilts stand on massive columns, which are equipped with capitals carved out of plants and wide, protruding multi-profile fighters that are radially aligned. The outer arcade arches merge into the sharp-edged pillars of the choir bay on the outside. The apse vault has the shape of half a spherical cap. In both choir vaults, a total of seven small round-arched openings have been left out, as is also known in the other vaults.
On the outer wall of the outpatient clinic, semicircular services are positioned radially opposite the apse columns and pillars. The distances between each other are accordingly wider. The closing capitals and transom profiles are at the same height as those of the columns. The inner gussets of the groin vaults directly adjoin the arches of the apse arcades. The outer gussets adjoin the outer walls with correspondingly larger and stilted shield arches. The ridges of the vaulted fields span diagonally from the corners of the arched stilts above the pillars to the corners of the striker plates above the services. The four windows in the walls fill almost the entire width between the services. Their vertices are approximately at the level of the capital warriors. Its walls are widened inwards and the parapets are steeply sloping. The edges of the drapery are set back, into which three-quarters of the round rods are inserted, the arches of which are marked with capitals.
The radial chapels are similar to the transept chapels. However, a window is left open in each of its three blind arcades.
Gallery choir capitals
Choir capital, vegetable sculpture
Choir capital, vegetable sculpture
2 choir capitals, vegetable sculpture
2 choir capitals, vegetable sculpture
crypt
The crypt was the first building section with the construction of which work on the collegiate church began. It was dedicated to St. Anna and previously contained the sarcophagus with the relics of the local saints Israël and Theobald. A crypt was originally used for the safe storage and exhibition of relics and valuable cult objects, which were often displayed in barred niches, the so-called martyrion. Even when the crypt was closed, the faithful could be close to the relics through openings in the steps leading up to the choir and have visual contact with them, as they were mostly lit by the candles. The openings were closed here later.
The crypt can be reached via a staircase from the south arm of the transept. Their floor plan largely corresponds to the ensemble of the choir above, its handling and the radial chapels. The small windows in the walkways and chapels are located above the adjoining ground level and provide adequate daylight lighting. The double curved barrel vault of the ambulatory is slightly pointed, is separated from the choir by a wall about two meters thick and is broken through by five openings. The three radial chapels are vaulted with half spherical caps. That of the top chapel is supported by four columns, which were probably built in connection with the addition of a fortified tower. The apex chapel alone has a tiled floor, the others are made of clay. Near the altar there is a granite baptismal font in the shape of a column, which was also used for religious ablutions at church services.
Furnishing
Baptismal font
About centered in the first central nave yoke is a Carolingian (about 750 to 1000) baptismal font made of a monolith made of delicate orange granite. It is 1.67 meters long, 1.52 meters wide, 0.68 meters high and 40 centimeters deep inside. The back wall of the basin is bulged in a semicircle in plan, which indicates that the basin once stood against a wall, with just such a niche into which the roundness of the basin fit exactly. Since there is no such niche in the collegiate church, it is concluded that the basin comes from a previous building. A circular opening through which the water could be drained was drilled in the south wall at floor level. The upper edges of the walls have folds on the inside into which a cover could be inserted. The size of the pool and the details mentioned above suggest that the pool was used for adult baptism when the person to be baptized was immersed.
The western wall is decorated with a relief of two four-legged friends, identified as lions, who are depicted with their backs turned against each other and whose tails are raised over their backs, which end in palm leaves. These tails are interpreted as symbols of fertility. On the head sides of the pool, the lion heads are repeated once again in mirror image, which meet on the corners. According to the French source, similarly designed lions are said to have been found in Charlemagne's palatine chapel.
organ
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The choir organ is an almost intact instrument from the workshop of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll , an organ manufacturer from Paris. It goes back to a charitable foundation of the Roberts von Le Dorat couple in 1876, which is documented on a plaque on the case. It was restored in 1962. The instrument has 20 stops on two manuals; the pedal registers are transmissions from the main work (Grand Orgue).
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- Coupling: II / I, I / P
Reliquaries
In two of the radial chapels, the gilded wood shrines created in the 17th century are exhibited, which contain the relics of the patron saints of Dorat, St-Israël and St-Theobald. Its younger wrought-iron frames stand on wider granite bases.
Sculpture of Saint Peter
In the third bay of the central nave, in front of a southern pillar, there is a large statue of St-Pierre made of black-colored plaster, the right foot of which is made of bronze. It sits on a throne and raises its right hand in a gesture of blessing.
literature
- Erich Grau, Margit Kilian: The Limousin . DuMont Art Travel Guide, DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-7701-2732-3 , pp. 283–285.
- Guillaume Lavaud: Le dossier hagiographique des saints Israël et Théobald du Dorat , “Saint Israël, chanoine de l'An Mil - Etablissements canoniaux, pouvoir épiscopal et seigneuries laïques au temps des premiers Capétiens, Limousin et royaume de international organisé parloque”, l'Université de Limoges et le CRIHAM, Nov 2014, Limoges-Le Dorat, France, éd. Lavaud, 2020. hal-02557458
Individual evidence
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 12 ′ 50.9 " N , 1 ° 4 ′ 56" E