Jacobin Convent (Toulouse)
The Jacobin Convent of the Dominican Order in the southern French city of Toulouse is an extraordinary building complex from the Middle Ages . The monastery church is dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas (around 1225–1274), who was canonized in 1325 and whose bones were transferred to the religious church of Toulouse on January 28, 1369 , where they now rest in a shrine under the altar plate . The entire building complex of the former Jacobin convent of Toulouse was included in the first list of Monuments historiques in 1840 .
location
The facility is located about 200 m north of the Garonne in the middle of the old town of Toulouse. The former abbey church of Saint-Sernin is about 1 km to the north and the Saint-Étienne cathedral is about 2 km to the southeast.
history
The emergence and early development of the Dominican order in the years 1206–1215 is closely linked to the fight against the Cathars in southwest France. The city of Toulouse and its surroundings ( Prouille Abbey ) were important centers of Dominican activity. In 1229 the order acquired an inner-city plot of land and began building a church the following year. This was expanded to the east in 1245–1252 and provided with grave chapels. Towards the end of the 13th century, the choir area received its two-aisles and in its center the famous 22 m high palmette pillar . The nave was not brought to the same height and width until the following century. On October 22, 1385, the church , which was previously consecrated to the Mother of God , received the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas.
During the French Revolution , the Dominican Order in France was dissolved and its property was nationalized. The Toulouse Convention was used as a barracks and storage room; the church served as a horse stable, the Antoninus chapel as a veterinary station . The medieval buildings were largely preserved and were acquired by the city of Toulouse in 1865. Thorough repairs in the 19th century and in the years 1920 to 1972 characterize the current condition.
architecture
church
The church is made of brick and is structured and stabilized by mighty but slim buttresses . Only the bars and the tracery of the high three-lane windows and the bases and capitals of the archivolt portal on the south side are made of sandstone . The west side is largely unadorned and is divided in two by a central buttress.
The two-aisled church is approx. 80 m long and approx. 20 m wide. The two naves are separated from each other by 22 m high columns , which were among the tallest of their kind in the Middle Ages. While the twelve nave bays are spanned by simple ribbed vaults, the polygonally broken apse has an irregular, eleven-pointed star vault . It is also highlighted by the color change of red-black ribs and light intermediate fields. Many other components inside the church (half-column templates, window frames, etc.) and in the chapter house are designed in a corresponding color change.
Bell tower
The approx. 45 m high bell tower is located on the north side of the church at the level of the transition from the nave to the apse. Its floor plan is octagonal and the upper part is divided into four floors. Each storey is opened to the outside through eight double arcades with gable arches (arcs en miter) , which can be seen more frequently in the brick architecture of Toulouse and its surroundings. The two arcades are covered by another gable arch. In the so resulting gusset is each a square, standing on the top of oculus . Each storey closes with a tooth-cut frieze made of slanted stones. The roof, surrounded by figurative gargoyles , originally had a pointed helmet , but it was destroyed in 1794. During the restoration of the tower, a new solution was chosen with a pinnacle crowned parapet in the style of the tower of the Pamiers cathedral .
Cloister
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The four-winged cloister of the monastery was built between 1306 and 1309. Its pent roofs rest on a multitude of double columns made of gray marble . The capitals are decorated with plant motifs. In the center of the cloister there is a fountain, framed by a round stone parapet. The south and east wings of the cloister had been dismantled and relocated in the early 19th century and were reconstructed from 1965 to 1970 using old parts.
Chapter House
The chapter house from the years 1299–1301 borders the east wing of the cloister and, as usual, has three aisles. Its vault rests on wall brackets, below which there are still extremely slender half-columns and two slender octagonal central columns. Walls and vaults are plastered and painted with joints . There are wide window openings on both sides of the entrance portal, which is modeled on the south portal of the church.
refectory
The approx. 20 m long refectory is located on the side of the cloister facing away from the church, the approx. 17 m high room is spanned by an open roof structure. Along with the refectory of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel and a few other monasteries, it is one of the largest and tallest of the Middle Ages.
Antonine Chapel
The small Antonine Chapel dates from 1335-1341 and was built by Dominique Grima, Bishop of Pamiers , as his burial place. The vault and wall frescoes show angels with various musical instruments as well as scenes from the life of St. Antoninus , a 5th century semi-legendary bishop of Pamiers .
Mausoleum of Thomas Aquinas
A 19.50 m high grave monument to Thomas Aquinas, destroyed during the French Revolution, was built in the church in the first half of the 17th century in late Renaissance styles . Existing drawings show its architectural structure and travelers from the 17th and 18th centuries expressed their admiration about the monumentality and artistic design of the work.
After secularization in 1792–1974, the saint's remains were kept in the Saint-Sernin abbey church. To celebrate its 600th anniversary of the death in 1974 was a new reliquary made, prepared on the altar plate and the Holy there reburied .
See also
literature
- Rolf Legler: Southwest France. From the Massif Central to the Pyrenees - art and history. DuMont, Cologne 1988, pp. 206ff, ISBN 3-7701-0986-4 .
- Le Couvent des Jacobins de Toulouse. MSM 2018, ISBN 978-2-9564217-0-2 .
Web links
- Jacobin Convent - photo + information (French)
- Jacobin convent - photos + brief information (structurae)
- Jacobin convent - photos + aerial photo
- Jacobin Convent - photo video
- Interior of the Jacobin Church in the evening light - photo
Remarks
- ↑ In the list of the bishops of Pamiers he is listed as "Dominique Grenier".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ancien couvent des Jacobins, Toulouse in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
Coordinates: 43 ° 36 ′ 13 ″ N , 1 ° 26 ′ 24 ″ E