Lombez Cathedral
The former cathedral of Lombez is dedicated to the Virgin Mary (French Notre-Dame or Sainte Marie) ; it was the main church of the diocese of Lombez, which existed from 1317 to 1801 in the Gers department in southwest France . Church construction has been recognized as a monument historique since 1846 .
location
The small town of Lombez, which has only about 2,000 inhabitants, is located about 55 km (driving distance) southwest of Toulouse on the Save River at an altitude of about 165 m .
history
The area around Lombez was Christianized by a certain Maianus of Antioch in the years around 600; his honor was one after his death chapel built about 200 years later in the possession of the Benedictines - Abbey of Saint-Thibéry came. Monks from the monastery of Saint-Thibéry founded a priory dedicated to Our Lady in Lombez . In 892 the bones of Maianus were brought to the Villemagne monastery; only one elbow bone ( ulna ) was brought back to Lombez. In 1125, the Lombez monastic community broke away from the motherhouse and placed itself under the protection of Toulouse Cathedral , but adopted the rule of the Augustinian Canons .
The diocese of Lombez was founded in 1317 by Pope John XXII, who lived in Avignon . created. This made the abbot Arnaud Roger of the Lombez monastery bishop ; he and his successors built the new cathedral, the architecture of which is heavily influenced by the Jacobin convent in Toulouse and which was officially consecrated in 1770. The diocese existed between Napoleon and the Holy See until the Concordat of 1801 ; its territory was then divided between the dioceses of Toulouse and Bayonne .
architecture
The cathedral consists almost entirely of bricks fired on site ; like its model, it has only two ships, although three were certainly planned, and no transept. The old bell tower (clocher) was replaced around 1770 by a plastered and color-contrasted five-storey new building on an octagonal floor plan. The portal and the pillars in the interior of the church, which are exposed to light through the immaculate windows, are clad with light limestone . As is customary in late Gothic architecture , there are no capitals ; the vault ribs grow seamlessly out of the round support pillars . The vault caps themselves are made of plastered bricks and - like the outer walls - are covered with grout paintings .
Furnishing
In the baptistery below the bell tower there is a leaden baptismal font from the 13th century. Three glass windows (vitraux) from the 15th / 16th centuries Century with scenes of the Passion of Jesus are attributed to the workshop of Arnaud de Moles . The choir stalls (stalles) date from the late 17th century; the organ was built around a century later .
See also
Web links
- Lombez Cathedral - Photos + Facts (French)
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 43 ° 28 ′ 28 " N , 0 ° 54 ′ 38" E