L'Escaladieu monastery
| L'Escaladieu Cistercian Abbey | |
|---|---|
 Monastery church from the northeast |
|
| location |
 FranceOccitania region Hautes-Pyrénées department |
| Coordinates: | 43 ° 6 '36 " N , 0 ° 15' 36" E |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
117 |
| Patronage | St. Mary |
| founding year | 1137 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1790 |
| Mother monastery | Morimond Monastery |
|
Daughter monasteries |
Monastery Fitero |
The monastery L'Escaladieu ( Latin Scala Dei = "heavenly ladder") was a Cistercian abbey in the municipality of Bonnemazon in the Hautes-Pyrénées department of the French region of Occitania . It was about 13 km northeast of Bagnères-de-Bigorre and 20 km southeast of Tarbes on the upper reaches of the Arros in the historic Bigorre landscape .
history
The monastery was founded around 1130 from a community that had formed in Capdour at the foot of the Tourmalet and was subordinate to the Morimond monastery around 1137 . In 1142 it moved to its final location. The abbey enjoyed the generosity of the Counts of Bigorre, acquired an important domain and founded twelve grangia . L'Escaladieu was involved in the Spanish Reconquista ( Order of Calatrava ) and in the construction of bastides (including the masseur ) and founded numerous subsidiary monasteries in what is now Spain . The warlike events of the 14th century led to the extensive destruction of the abbey in 1377. In 1508 the coming was introduced. The church was renovated in the second half of the 17th century. In the 18th century, an octagonal tower on the upper floor was built on the site of the south arm of the transept. The reputation of the abbey was not good in the last years of its existence.
During the French Revolution , the monastery, which had only ten monks, was dissolved (1790) and three years later it was sold to three merchants from Bordeaux . Around 1825 the abbey was partially demolished. Restoration work took place from 1963 to 1967, but a fire broke out in 1966 and in 1973 the abbey was affected by a flood of the Adour . In 1997 it came into the ownership of the department, which set up a multimedia exhibition on the past and present of the Cistercian order and the Escaladieu monastery.
Buildings and plant
The enclosure was north (left) of the church built between 1142 and 1160 and consecrated in 1160. This is still upright, but has lost the facade, choir and transept . It largely corresponded to the plan of the church of the Fontenay monastery . The transept chapels were separated from the choir by a narrow space (see Baltinglass Abbey in Ireland). The five-bay nave with narrow aisles is vaulted by a pointed barrel. From the cloister remains are still visible. In the east wing of the enclosure, the chapter house has been preserved, which is divided into nine bays by four cylindrical columns (three of which are half bays to the former cloister) with cross rib vaults made of brick. The monk cells are on the upper floor.
Monastery church
Rest of the cloister and steeple
Rest of the cloister
Chapter House
.JPG)
literature
- M.-Anselme Dimier, Jean Porcher: The art of the Cistercians in France. Zodiaque-Echter, Würzburg 1986, ISBN 3-429-01026-8 , pp. 57-65 (with two floor plans).
- Jean-François Le Nail: L'Escaladieu - abbaye de Bigorre. In: Dossiers d'Archéologie. No. 234, 1998, ISSN 1141-7137 , pp. 52-53.
- Bernard Peugniez: Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse. Nouvelle édition augmentée. Éditions Gaud, Moisenay 2001, ISBN 2-84080-044-6 , pp. 270-272.
