Notre-Dame de l'Assomption (Rieux-Minervois)

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The church Notre-Dame de l'Assomption (also known as Église Sainte-Marie ) in Rieux-Minervois is one of the most extraordinary church buildings in the south of France. It was declared a monument historique in 1840 .

Église Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in Rieux-Minervois

location

The church is located in the middle of the small town of Rieux-Minervois in the cultural landscape of the Minervois, which was at times influenced by the Albigensians in the High Middle Ages, in the southern French department of Aude in the Occitania region at an altitude of about 115 m above sea level. d. M.

Building history

The building history of the church is largely in the dark: a church in Rieux is mentioned in a document for the year 1079, but this date does not match the existing building, which is commonly dated to the second half of the 12th century. At that time, Rieux belonged to the Counts of Minerve , who, however, lost all their possessions in the 13th century, as they sided with the Cathars and Albigensians . From the 16th to the 18th century, several chapels and spaces were added, which on the one hand obscure the original 14-sided floor plan of the church, but on the other hand helped to stabilize the structure.

Client

The client or clients are still unknown today. When it comes to central buildings, one usually thinks of the Knights Templar , who liked to build their octagonal or round church buildings based on the model of the round Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem , but there are no corresponding written documents.

architecture

The original floor plan of the church - 14-sided on the outside and 7-sided on the inside - is absolutely unusual and difficult to calculate - an octagon ( Aachen Cathedral , Ottmarsheim Abbey Church , Saint-Michel d'Entraygues, etc.) or a hexagon ( Tomar , Convento de Cristo ). At the round Temple Church in London, a church that - like Tomar - verifiably was built by the Knights Templar Order, the round building on the inside of the ground floor ends in a hexagonal upper floor. The Templars were therefore familiar with playing around with numbers in conjunction with central buildings.

Another peculiarity of this idiosyncratic structure is that it was originally directionless both inside and outside, as there was probably no east-facing apse . So one gets the impression that the building is dealing with the topic of "infinity" in some respects or even seems to play with it.

Exterior construction

The exterior of the original church is covered by chapels from later times. The cross-section of the towering two-storey tower is remarkably heptagonal . The basement of the tower is closed on all sides; in the bell-shaped storey, there are single or double sound openings on several sides.

Church Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in Rieux-Minervois - interior with props exchange

inner space

The Heptagon inside is bordered by four massive brick pillars and three - from thick stone drums composite - columns alternating with each other, which of course is mathematical and constructively impossible; therefore - a little offset in front of today's altar chapel - two pillars stand directly next to each other. The interior closes off at the top with a raised dome that rests neither on pendentives nor on trumpets , but gradually develops out of the - not exactly bricked - heptagon. The walkway has a quarter barrel vault that runs all around and is not interrupted by belt arches , which absorbs the lateral thrust of the central dome structure.

Number symbolism

It remains unclear whether the number seven, which is peculiar in architecture, has something to do with the “seven pillars of wisdom” ( Proverbs 9.1  EU ), which in the Middle Ages were often understood as a paraphrase of Mary. Other researchers divide the number seven into 'three' and 'four'; the 'three' would stand for the Trinity (i.e. ultimately for the unlimited or the spirit), while the 'four' (the square, i.e. the limited) would stand for the earth (i.e. for the material). Such a division corresponds with the supports (three columns and four pillars) - but this is not clear evidence of such a symbolic interpretation of the church. The number seven also plays a major role in the Apocalypse of John.

Capitals

There are several capitals inside the church. One with a representation of Mary in a cloud-filled mandorla , which is carried by three angels on each side ( Assumption of Mary ) is of extraordinary plasticity and quality; it is attributed to the Master of Cabestany . Another with two lion heads also shows an excellent stone work, which is particularly visible in the flowers of the abacus plate . Another shows a bearded man ( Samson ?) Fighting with two lions. Less successful capitals indicate that several sculptors were certainly at work in Rieux.

  • Mary in a mandorla carried by angels

  • Stylized lion heads

  • Lion defeats a dragon

  • Lions / trumpet players

Side chapels

The building has several side chapels and spaces (sacristy etc.) from the 15th to 18th centuries, some of which are barrel vaulted , but some are also ribbed . Some have beautiful tracery windows in the late Gothic flamboyant style .

Others

In a wall niche there is a group of burials from the 15th and 16th centuries, only about 50 cm high . Century.

literature

  • Marcel Durliat : L'église de Rieux-Minervois. In: Session. Congrès archéologique de France vol. 131: 30-43 (1973) .
  • Olivier Bonnery: L'église de Rieux-Minervois. Dimension symbolique de l'architecture des ateliers roussillonnais du XII siécle. In: Marie, l'art et la société. Des origines du culte au XIIIe siècle. 1994, pp. 13-30.
  • Guylène Hidrio: L'église de Rieux-Minervois: Marie et les sept colonnes de la Sagesse dans l'iconographie médiévale. In: Marie, l'art et la société. Des origines du culte au XIIIe siècle. 1994, pp. 87-97.

Web links

Commons : Notre-Dame de l'Assomption (Rieux-Minervois)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église, Rieux-Minervois in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ^ Rieux-Minervois - map with altitude information

Coordinates: 43 ° 16 ′ 57.2 "  N , 2 ° 35 ′ 14.6"  E