Prieuré de Ganagobie
The Priory Notre-Dame de Ganagobie is a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Solesmes . It is located 15 kilometers northeast of Forcalquier and about 30 km south of Sisteron , in the French department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence , high above the banks of the Durance .
The priory is known for its medieval colored mosaic floor , which is dated to the mid or third quarter of the 12th century and is unique in France.
A first monastery was founded in the 10th century, which was built by the Bishop of Sisteron on his own land and then transferred to Cluny Abbey .
The priory has a completely protected location 350 meters above the Durance valley, on a narrow plateau , surrounded by steep cliffs . The Roman road Via Domitia led past the plateau. In the Middle Ages it was the shortest and safest route between Spain and Rome (to Strabo ).
The monastery was abandoned between the 15th and 20th centuries. Since 1987, the Benedictine community of Hautecombe has been housed here, which dates back to the Benedictine Abbey of Marseille (1865-1922).
The high plateau
The high plateau of Ganagobie has a length of about 1300 meters and a width of about 150 to 450 meters. It is geologically the rest of Quartärterrasse which is isolated behind Sisteron on the right bank of the Durance, opposite the spacious plateau of Valensole . On its east side, the plateau follows the river for more than 350 meters, which winds along its foot in a wide, fertile valley. The natural passage of the Durance connects the Rhone Delta with the Po , over the Col des Mont Genèvres over the past epochs . In Roman antiquity , the Via Domitia also ran through here, crossing a tributary of the Durance - the Buès - on a single-arched bridge on the border between the Lurs and Ganagobie lands. The completely preserved Roman bridge is still in use today. It is 30 meters long and 10 meters high. It was probably built in the 2nd century.
In the Middle Ages the monks of Ganagobie had their most fertile fields on the banks of the navigable waters and considerable income from mooring fees (for ships) and bridge tolls . The landscape changes to the west in the direction of the Lure Mountains. Lurs, Maontlaux, Sigonce and Auges are surrounded by impenetrable forests that rarely allow clearing.
The steep slopes of the plateau, on which a few mule tracks lead up to the southeast and east , are overgrown with pine trees , old oaks , lavender , gorse and thyme . Since 1952 there has also been a single-lane, winding and paved access road with many serpentines. The plateau's plateau is overgrown by green oak forests and an impenetrable maquis ( macchia in Italian ), which is still furrowed by old paths, some of which run directly on the bedrock.
The Ganagobie plateau is a high-altitude place in an exceptional location, from the edges of which one can enjoy extensive views of the Durance valley. In the northeast you can see the mountain Ciso and the peaks of the Trois-Évèches on the horizon, in the east and southeast follow Serre de Montdenier and Pic d'Aiguines, the Massif de Saint-Baume and the Sainte-Victoire. To the south one looks at the Luberon , to the west at the Mont Ventoux , and finally to the north the mighty and very close chain of the Lure mountains extends.
Ganagobie, an island in the sky above the Durance artery, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It had its heyday in the Middle Ages, when its northern promontory was settled by a village called Villevieille (old village), of which huge piles of stones and remains of the fortress ruins have been preserved. The village was designated as a villa in 1206 and as a castrum in 1274 and was heavily fortified in the 13th century. Its defensive wall blocked off the outermost mountain ledge from west to east, in its center a rectangular bastion, probably a guardhouse and a " city gate ", between whose outer ogival and inner round-arched opening a portcullis could be lowered. In 1474, Villevieille was designated as uninhabited and was not settled again later. Today it consists mainly of mountains of masonry rubble overgrown with shrubbery and remains of ruins, in which one can only guess the course of alleys and the layout of buildings and the foundation walls of the tower at the northern end of the settlement. The location of the church ruins, the ecclesia castri de Podio from 1274, which may have been dedicated to St. John the Baptist , is not known.
Traces of different epochs were discovered on the plateau, such as the remains of several churches, cemeteries, rows of upright stone slabs, small medieval and modern stone quarries (grindstones, millstones, "meules"), basins carved into the rock, cisterns and springs , old walls and, on the eastern and western steep slopes, shelters made of stones stacked without mortar, the so-called bories .
Between the monastery and Villevieille , the ruins of a simple chapel deserve our attention, which, according to oral tradition , is dedicated to “ Saint-Martin ”. The original building was on a rectangular floor plan (inside 5.20 × 3.20 m), with an entrance on the south side and a semicircular apse in the east. The walled quarry stones are worked at the corners in Romanesque style. The ship was extended to the west to 13.10 meters in a time that can no longer be precisely determined. Excavations in and around the building, carried out from 1951 to 1954, uncovered a number of medieval tombs covered with limestone slabs. The archaeologists interpret this house of prayer as a hermitage .
The Ganagobie Monastery was founded in the late Carolingian era, but only buildings from the Romanesque period have survived. It was built on the eastern edge of the plateau. In a particularly naturally protected location, on the edge of the approximately 30-meter-high steep slope, it seems to dominate the valley of the Durance, at the foot of which two springs arise.
The medieval structures of church, monastery and convent building together form a square with an extension of 41.00 meters in east-west direction and 44.50 meters in north-south direction. On the outside, if you ignore the buildings that were built later, the whole thing resembles a massive fortress made of strong walls with little windows and with difficult access. The most carefully designed and imposing part is the church under the patronage of Notre-Dame ("Our Lady"). The oldest part of the church is the remainder of an originally higher tower in the angle between the north nave wall and the north arm of the transept , which is dated to the 11th century.
history
The traditions go back to the Livre vert (green book) of Sistero, which was written around 1500 by Bishop Laurent Bureau. He was able to rely on the church archives of Sisteron and the Opuscula varia by J. Columbi, who had access to an important collection of original documents, which are now largely lost. According to this, the Ganagobie monastery ( Podium Ganaguobiense ) is believed to have been donated by Bishop of Sisteron Jean III., On a domain of his family in the middle of the 10th century . He is said to have built two churches, one dedicated to Notre-Dame and a second, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, in which he wanted to be buried (perhaps the one in Villevieille) . Around 960 he gave it and the associated monastery to the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny .
Sources about the foundation and establishment are not yet known, but the local tradition and the oldest known documents about ganagobia confirm the justification of this tradition. The donation of the monastery to the Benedictines of Cluny, which came after a few years or decades of independence, is not surprising. Because St. Mayeul of Cluny, who was at the head of the powerful abbey in Burgundy from 954 to 994, came from a Provencal family who owned properties in the dioceses of Apt, Sisteron and Riez. During his forty-year term in office, the Cluniacians expanded considerably . Mayeul may have been related to Bishop Jean of Sisteron, who also came from an important family in the region. In any case, this donation from Ganagobie to the Abbey of Cluny came as no surprise at a particularly troubled time for Provence.
The sources give no information about the first monastery buildings of the 10th century.
In the second half of the 10th century, the bishops of Sisteron and the large families of the region gave gifts to the new monastery. In 963 or 967, Ursus, Jean's successor at the head of the diocese of Sisteron, gave the monastery his tithe from neighboring Peytuis and the Saint-Pierre church in the same place, as well as the lands of the Villae d'Arises (Aris), Abuses (? ) and a domain Casomalis, in which there is a church dedicated to Saint Michael (Dabisse). At about the same time, Lambert de Reillanne, an ancestor of Raimbaud, Archbishop of Arles and his wife Galburga, donated some goods from Peyruis to the new institution (Sancta Maria Conacoriensis). In 1013 their son Boniface and his wife Constance confirmed the donation and added goods. In the last years of the 10th century Ganagobie (cella Ganagobieacensis, cella here in the sense of monastery / priory, in contrast to ecclesia , church of the secular priests ) was finally one of the few Provencal estates of Cluny. They are confirmed by a regulation from King Rudolf (998) and a privilege from Pope Gregory V (996 to 999).
In 1022/1023 Waldemar and Agnes gave the monastery of Sainte-Marie in Beaujeu, in the diocese of Gap and in the county that made up half of the Gargatas valley and the Alm Vallonus in the territory of Luz-la-Croix-Haute. 1058 confirmed Pope Stephen IX. (X) Cluny Abbey owned by Ganagobie (Ganagobiense monsteriolum) .
The oldest surviving parts of the structure are dated to the first half of the 11th century. It is the remainder of a tower in the corner between the south wall of the ship and the first north arm of the transept. A second remnant from this period are old window openings in the west wall of the first south arm of the transept. For this one must also consult excavation findings that were made in the first transept in the southern arm and in the crossing. There is no other information in the known sources about the extent and appearance of the other structures. The extensive donations in this century suggest, however, that structural renovations or expansions took place during this period as well.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Counts of Folcalquier became the most important patrons of Ganagobie. Guillaume IV transferred and repaid to the Cluniac priory everything he owned on the Puy de Ganagobie (in claustro et in villa de Podio, that is, in the vicinity of the monastery and in the village of villevieille), in Sigonce, Aris, Saint-Pierre in Viziers (in Viseriis), in Pierrerue and in Peronto (?). These privileges, granted in 1206, were approved in 1220 by Gersende de Sabran, Countess and Marquise of Provence, and reaffirmed in 1223 by Raymond Béranger V.
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. (P. 25)
Ganagobie was on an important byway of these pilgrimages, which in this region coincided with the old Via Domitia, then led via Sète, Narbonne to Perpignan, to use one of the Pyrenees crossings to Spain there or further west. With the partial renovation and enlargement of its church, the monastery was able to participate in the willingness of the pilgrims to donate. This welcome income then allowed them to afford the church's floor mosaics, which are certainly expensive.
In the 12th century, the now largely known Romanesque buildings were erected in two large sections, first the church and then the cloister with the convent buildings.
Careful research into the floor mosaics allows them to be dated to the middle or third quarter of the 12th century.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Ganagobie priory continued to develop and flourished until the end of the 14th century. From its center onwards, all rural priories and all of the Cluny possessions in the region around Forcalquier-Sisteron, south and north of the Lure Mountains, were united with him.
When the dispute over Aquitaine between England and France rose after the mid-12th century, the pilgrimage declined and the wars of the 13th and 14th centuries brought a dramatic slump. (P. 25) With this these sources of money dried up almost completely.
The “Visites de l'ordre de Cluny” are a valuable source of information on the life of the priory throughout the Middle Ages. From this we learn that Ganagobie counted 12 to 14 monks in addition to prior in the 13th and 14th centuries . Above all, the climate in this monastery is described and one learns how this small community in the mountains lived together in material and spiritual terms. Hospitality and charity were especially fostered. But sometimes financial problems arose or the rules of the order were neglected. In 1404 the visitor stated: everything is so bad (omnia sunt in ruina ...) , both spiritual and worldly, that an exaltation is difficult. This already heralded the decline. Only four, five or six monks formed the monastic community. The priory buildings were inadequately maintained and the lands were administered as well.
From the end of the 15th century onwards, the monastery experienced a period of renewal under priors, who often appointed the church authorities, but then also dark days and even violence. The prior Pierre de Glandèves (1502–1550) seems to have rearranged it to some extent. He had the Signonce Castle, a luxurious priory building, restored. We also owe him significant work in the 16th century in the monastery itself, such as the renovation of medieval buildings and some buildings in the Renaissance style, remains of which are still around the Romanesque monastery. These restorations only took a short time. They probably also included the restoration of the main portal, which entailed considerable changes.
Soon after, the Wars of Religion (1562–1592) began, during which the monastery was looted and the archives were destroyed by fire.
In 1579 “nobody was found in Ganagobie , except for a few shepherds who tended the sheep on the mountain, and when we visited the said priory, we found the vaults of the earlier stone church and the apartment of the prior collapsed due to the previous wars. And we have heard that this was done on the orders of the governor of Provence, because he feared that the enemies might seize the buildings and hide themselves there. We found the cloister, dormitory, refectory, kitchen and cellar in good condition ... "
According to a file from 1586, Prior Jean Gombert was to take part in the restoration of the monastery. According to the corresponding text, this is unlikely, since the Protestant buccaneer dynasty of the Bousquet suppressed the religious community at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century. For their own benefit they have confiscated the goods and income of the Cluniac priory. The religious spirit disappeared from the buildings for a long time.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the 17th century, new life came to the old monastery. This was thanks to two priors from the Mane area near Folcalquier, Jacques and Pierre Gaffarel. Jaques Gaffarel was a clever and thirsty for knowledge, particularly concerned with oriental languages and occult knowledge, who liked to travel and was a friend of Pierre Gassendi and Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, doctor of theology and librarian of Cardinal Richelieu .
From 1638 to 1660 he tried hard to bring together the goods of the monastery, which the Bousquet had appropriated for almost a century. In 1660 he gave up his job in favor of his younger brother Pierre, who continued it until 1690. In 1682 he had the only remaining bell hung up again. At that time the religious community again consisted of four or five clergymen. In 1787 a royal decree repealed the Order of Cluny.
Everything else went very quickly after that. In 1788 the priory was secularized . In 1789 the French Revolution broke out, as a result of which in 1791 the buildings and lands of Ganagobie were sold as national property. In 1794, the monastery was viewed as a "secure asylum for the enemies of the people's cause" and it was partially destroyed on the orders of the departmental directorate. The enemy devastated the double transept and the choir until they collapsed. Evidence can still be seen today. Only the nave could save a petition from the residents. The cloister was also devastated. The agitators even dug up the terrain around the church, hoping to find valuable items in the grave sites and sarcophagi . Fortunately, the lonely location of the buildings prevented the systematic removal of cut stones and sculptures.
In 1891, Count de Malijay transferred the remains of Ganagobie to the Benedictines of the Sainte-Madeleine Abbey in Marseille , headed by Dom Gauthey at the time. Thereupon Father Gibbal and a small congregation took over the material and spiritual restoration of the priory, the friars cleared the rooms from 1898 to 1900, renovated the cloister under the direction of the architect of the monument office Henry Révoil, discovered the precious mosaics in the choir area (1898) and protected them. The monks took over the habitable cloister. In 1901, anti-clericalism in France forced the religious into exile in Italy, which interrupted the progress of the restoration work.
They were resumed in 1922, thanks to the energy and boldness of Father JT Lorenzi, who alone maintained the Benedictine presence in Ganagobie for more than twenty years and prepared the extensive renovations that were only carried out after his death in 1959. In 1953 the first asphalt road up to the priory was opened. It was not until 1957 that the monument office finally began work in earnest, under the direction of three successive chief architects, J. Sommer, J. Cl. Rochette and D. Ronsseray and by the contractor Girard in Avignon. The initiative came from the Benedictines de Abbey of Hautecombe in Savoy, who administered the place, and the “Société civile propriétaire”, with the active participation of local groups. Due to a lack of money, the work progressed slowly. Securing the church restoration took almost twelve years to complete.
Until the completion of the reconstruction of the transepts and the choir and the restoration of the mosaics, a temporary partition wall had been drawn in at the eastern end of the nave. The entire choir was in ruins until 1975 and was then rebuilt true to the original. The mosaics, protected by the rubble, had previously been detached from the floor and transferred to the restoration workshops of the monument authority in Périgueux (Dordogne department), the most progressive of its kind in France, which has an international reputation for the exemplary restoration of historic old town centers in south-west France (such as Sarlat).
The restoration of the mosaics was completed in autumn 1986 and the magnificent works can be viewed again since then. The restoration and expansion of the monastery took place from 1988 to 1992.
Buildings
Dimensions / floor plan and elevation
church
- Outside
- Total length: 41.00 m
- Width of the ship: 9.50 m
- '' Width transepts: 19.40 + 19.90 m
- Height of the west facade: 12.20 m
- Height of the portal opening: 6.10 m, width of the passage 1.80 m
- Inside
- Total length: 37.10 m
- Total length of the ship: n 21.70
- Depth of the choir: 15.40 m, depth of the choir apse: 3.40 m
- Deep transepts, middle yokes: 5.75 + 5.75 m
- Ship 1. Width & Width 2nd yoke: each 7.30 m, 3rd yoke: 7.00 m
- Width transepts: 17.40 m
- Width of the choir apse: 4.80 m, opening of the secondary apse: 3.10 m
- Height of the ship at the top: 12.40 m
- Mosaic floor area: 70 m²
- Cloister
- Gallery lengths: north: 19.35, east: 18.30, south: 19.20, west: 18.00 m
- Average gallery width: 2.80 m
- Gallery height max .: 4.42.00 m
- Gallery arcade openings Width: 0.70-0.75 m
- Yard (lawn): 10.35 x 11.230 m
- Parapet wall W × H: 0.70 × 0.30 m
Convention rooms
- Chapter house: 6.60 × 5.60 m
- Refectory: 12.60 x 6.40 m
External appearance of the church
The Romanesque building consists of finely joined regular ashlar work of limestone from the surrounding area , both outside and inside . The medieval quarries can still be seen on the plateau and on its eastern steep slope. The medium stone format leads to a layer height of about 32 and stone lengths of 40 to 55 centimeters. The southern outer wall looks clearly different in the first two bays, which can hardly be explained. Maybe this section has been restored? Stone carving marks are generally missing, apart from the letter A in the northern apse. The uniformity of the bare walls is weakly interrupted by the holes for scaffolding that are regularly scattered in the rhythm of the various construction periods.
The sober and clear exterior of the church gains its value especially through its balanced volumes, the harmony of the lines and the perfectly finished stone masonry .
This balance is particularly noticeable in the spacious choir head (the final element of the choir that protrudes on the outside of the church ) and its outstanding proportions , even if it is so varied. Vertical lines of the apses profile the bare, gable wall . Of the three different apses, two have the polygonal outline of half a pentagon and one (the northern one) has a semicircular outline. The stone surfaces of the north apse are accordingly neatly rounded. The walls of the apses are closed at the top by profiled eaves cornices , the carefully crafted choir apse is adorned with ornamented corbels , the distance between which corresponds approximately to the width of the corbels. The corbels are supported by a sharp-edged approximately 30 centimeter high cornice band, below which the vertical bends of the apse wall are covered by blind pilasters about half a meter wide in the depth of the cornice band. Their upper finishes could certainly not be restored to their original state. In the axis of the choir apse, about halfway up the wall, a small arched window is cut out, the walls of which are slightly widened. Similar windows are located in the axes of the side apses, but much smaller.
The outer walls of the nave and transept are loosened up solely by the rhythm of the buttresses . These are all the same except for the narrower pillars on the south side in the area of the cloister. Their tops are steeply sloping outwards. The arched windows on the south side have widened walls in yokes one and two, the one in the oldest yoke three shows a double indentation: the bare wall is adorned with a round rod and a small decorative tympanum .
In order to preserve the architectural remains of previous buildings, the outer west wall of the south arm of the first transept was preserved in its original way when the church was built. On the old wall, next to the small double window from pre-Romanesque times, there is a brick arched arch , the battles of which are adorned with fine palmettes . In addition, a round arched door is cut out, also with palmette-decorated fighters. This door bears a mock tympanum with a relief frame , which was intended for a painted inscription.
A shared gable roof covers the nave, the crossing of the first transept and all four transept arms with a roof pitch of almost thirty degrees. Its ridge extends from the facade in the west to the stump of the tower above the crossing of the second transept, its eaves extend over the entire length of the nave on both sides of the nave and on the north and south sides of the transept arms. The floor plan of the tower stump is not quite square and rises flush with the surface from the east wall of the second transept and from the gable roof surfaces, up to about one meter above the roof ridge. It is covered by a gently sloping pyramid roof .
The stump of the tower, made of smooth ashlar, is the remnant of the former bell tower , the octagonal tower floor of which was equipped with eight open sound arcades (also called sound hatches), the arcades of which were profiled similar to the arch of the main portal. The tower finally had a fairly high octagonal pyramid roof. Few remnants of this part of the structure lie in the small cemetery in front of the church head.
At the eastern end of the nave a small wall of bells protrudes above the ridge, in which a single bell is freely suspended. It was probably built to replace the lost bell tower over the crossing of the second transept arm.
The roof surfaces of the buildings are all covered with black limestone slabs (lauss) in the form of scales. On the eaves and the verge of the facade they protrude slightly over profiled cornices , on the east facing verges there is no cornice under the overhangs of the panels.
Probably the oldest bell tower towered up on the north side of the nave since the second half of the 11th century, in the angle between it and the northern arm of the first transept, which has been preserved to under the continuous gable roof. Its original height was hardly greater than its current one. In contrast to that of the more recent structures , its masonry consists of small-format broken stone and field stone , the outer edge of which is reinforced solely with large-format masonry made of ashlar stone , which has masonry teeth for the wall connections. On the north side of the tower - accessible at ground level - a door is left open, an entrance from the church to the cemetery.
The west facade (pp. 105–108) is dominated by a monumental, relatively deep main portal in a massive wall, which due to its volume could do without additional buttresses. It was originally a purely Romanesque five-tier archivolt portal with five profiled, slightly pointed arches, which rested on each side of the portal on five slender, upwardly tapering columns, which in turn stood on five tiered consoles that are covered on the top by strong cantilever profiles and are still entirely today exist. The consoles on the side of the portal extend to the component edges. The 2 × 5 columns were all equipped with sculpted capitals of different heights, unusually high cover plates with cantilever profiles protruding on the inside, high profiled and sculpted bases on angular thin plinths .
This portal obviously underwent significant changes at the beginning of the 16th century. This happened under the priory of Pierre de Glandèves, who was prior of Ganagobie for almost fifty years (1502–1550). This is more likely than as a result of the Wars of Religion (1562–1589), from which the Cluniac priory also suffered a lot. Since then it has lived in internal difficulties that hardly allowed any major initiatives.
Whenever the aforementioned corrections have been made, they can be recognized immediately by the lobed edges of the two intermediate archivolts, their supports in the form of lateral offset of the walls and the edges of the portal opening. Arnaud d'Agnel had recognized well that they belong to a restoration, which is also confirmed by several observations made mainly by P. Martel.
The lobed Bogengehänge and side edges are obvious portions of pre-blanked semicircular column shafts with interposed chamfer profiles , which do not intend their preparation vertically but horizontally here reuse as found. Care had to be taken to ensure that a thick column shaft was followed by a thinner one. The individual stones comprised one to three pillars with the wall parts behind them. In the upper arch areas, stones with one column each are mainly used. Their abutting surfaces had to be chamfered radially accordingly. The shaft pieces had to have exactly the same lengths so that the outer visible sides could be aligned absolutely flat and flush with the surface, as happened here. However, they had to have been pre-faded into flat wall surfaces beforehand. If some of these stone blocks were missing, they were reproduced. It cannot be ruled out that all of these blocks of stone have been manufactured from scratch. The subsequent installation did not allow them to be properly embedded in the arches and portal reveals . Instead, they had to be wedged somewhat clumsily with slate slices and then simply grouted, which can still be seen today.
The effort to create the previously existing lintel from a gallery made up of five identical arcades, sometimes occupied by one or the other with two apostles, could not be reconciled with the alternately wide column shafts and the coves in between. The lower part of the relief was unfortunately trimmed and some apostles are giving away one or both feet.
This result of the restoration of an archivolt portal corresponds to an architectural fantasy that preoccupied art historians for a long time. It doesn't seem cumbersome at all, but maybe only because you are used to seeing this famous portal. Overall, this edging of the portal opening is reminiscent of certain portals from Languedoc ( e.g. Loupian ), Aquitaine or Spain, whose column shafts probably served as a model.
Of the former five archivolts on pillars, three have been preserved, the inner, the outer and the middle. The archivolt arches are each divided into several partially round rods, which are separated by chamfers. Four of the very fine conical columns tapering upwards have smooth, one zigzag and one spiral fluted shafts, similar to those of the portal in Salagon. They wear Corinthian acanthus capitals , the one on the left shows the mask of a bearded man, the one on the right masks that make faces and little devils who suddenly seem to come out of the stone.
They are comparable to quite a few others in the region from the mid-12th century and others from the end of the 12th, if not the beginning of the 13th century. The pink, partly bluish marble from the Alps, the unusually strong cover plates and the high carved and profiled bases give the whole thing a color that lights up in the afternoon sun.
The rather massive lintel shows the twelve apostles in a gallery of eight equally wide, round-arched blind arcades , individually or as groups of two, facing the viewer frontally. They are all very small people without proper proportions, some sitting, others standing, and dressed in stiff robes. Their relatively large faces look quite realistic up close. Peter alone wears his insignia , the keys that identify him as the patron saint of Cluny. All the others carry the Holy Book, a motif that is also known from medieval graves ( e.g. Airvault ). The lower edge of the lintel was originally straight.
The almost triangular tympanum (triangle, a symbol for the deity) is enclosed by the inner portal archivolt with a simple profile and below by a profiled cantilever cornice at the height of the archivolt fighters. A double row of pointed wave arcs, symbolizing the clouds in the sky, accompanies the curvature of the archivolt and covers the scene. A majestic Christ in the mandorla dominates the whole composition frontally. He is seated on a low lion throne from which the heads of the armrests peek out. His awe-inspiring head is backed by a cross nimbus , the arms of which point diagonally upwards, which is rare. His fixed gaze exudes grandeur and calm. On his left is a sun in the form of a circular bowl with a rosette of flowers inside. The right hand, raised in a gesture of blessing , has broken off. In his left hand he holds the Holy Book in front of his chest. Christ is surrounded by the four evangelist symbols, the four living beings, the winged animals from the Revelation of Ezekiel and the apocalyptic vision of John, who crowd around the Lord and praise him:
Top left: the wisest of creation, man (Matthew), top right: the fastest, the eagle (John), bottom left: the strongest, the bull (Luke), and bottom right: the noblest, the lion (Mark) . The last two are in slightly recessed rectangular frames. On either side of it, an angel carries a banner in praise of Christ with one hand , with the other holding the aforementioned frame. In the middle of this frame sits the mandorla, which is extended downwards by a foot platform.
All of these figures unfold in a relatively stiff manner within the scene, such as the closely spaced feet of Christ. This, however, gives it a certain oriental nobility. On the other hand, the lion and the bull underneath form a beautiful symmetrical countermovement that appears alive despite the weight of their bodies. The sometimes rather awkward and coarse-looking plastic is felt to be ancient, the human heads are evenly elongated and the bull has an almost cat-like body. The contrast between the noble rest of Christ, who remains in eternity, and the living animals around shows an attractive contrast. The unmistakable Mezarabic influence can be explained by the fact that Ganagobie was a priory of Cluny, whose abbot, St. Hugo , stayed in Spain and brought many suggestions from there.
The tympanum consists of seven panels placed one on top of the other, each with a single figure, which reinforces the rigidity of the overall composition. Two different types of limestone were used for these high reliefs. One, fine-grained, comes from a quarry in Mane, near Forcalquier, and was used for the high reliefs of Christ, the bull and the lion. The other, coarser-grain limestone, directly from the surrounding area, was used for the side parts of the composition, for the bas-relief of the human being, the eagle and the two angels. The latter material was also used for the sculpture of the lintel. The entirety of the figures depicted on the tympanum is the work of a single sculptor, as is, for example, the detailed examination of human heads, which are all similarly designed.
The lintel and tympanum are originals. However, they were used clumsily when the portal was overhauled (wedging stones on the edge surfaces). In any case, this portal could not be installed before the completion of the construction of the church, perhaps even only when the cloister was built, around the end of the 12th century. This is confirmed by many circumstances: the elevation and pointed arches of the tympanum and the archivolts, the strict profile of the cornices, the profiling of the column bases with corner spurs, the capitals with grotesque decoration and finally the overall arrangement of the portal, which shows that of the Notre-Dame priory de Salagon in Mane (third quarter of the 12th century) as well as that of St-Marcel-lès-Sauzet (Drôme) (early 13th century).
Not far above the apex of the outer portal archivolt is a large circular window, also known as the oculus or ox-eye . Its reveal edge is divided into several profiles. In the late afternoon, the golden light of the setting sun illuminates the entire nave through this window up to the choir.
Interior of the church
The church, which closes the monastery in the north, consists of a high nave with three bays, a double wide transept and a choir with three apses. This floor plan shows extensive similarities with those of other Benedictine churches in Provence, such as Nôtre-Dame in Aumades, Saint-Eusèbe near Apt (Vaucluse), and Sainte Jalle and Barbara in Allan (Drôme). All of these buildings have a choir of the same size and a three-bay nave of the same length (Ganagobie is slightly longer). However, the double transept is only available in Ganagobie. This is probably because they wanted to adapt the floor plan to the location.
The irregularities in the superstructure of this church probably result from predecessor buildings that have largely no longer existed. MM Fixot unearthed remains of these structures through excavations. The above-mentioned still preserved tower, probably the first bell tower of the church, is one of these previous buildings.
The examination of the outer and inner masonry, despite its uniformity, reveals several execution phases that can be classified over time. Every repair made a new grouting of the stone layers necessary.
As is often the case, the church was built from east to west in vertical sections. As is so often the case, this was done so that enough church space could always be used for liturgical purposes during the construction work . The choir and the double transept with the connections to the future nave belonged to the first construction period. Accordingly, the previous structures were initially only demolished in this section, while they were left for further use in the area of the future ship. Only when it was possible to move into the finished new buildings in the east for liturgical use did the old buildings in the area of the third yoke be demolished. Only when the new building of the third bay was able to be used for the mass celebration, all remains of the old buildings were demolished and the first and second bay with the west facade were built as the third and final phase. These different construction phases should also correspond to the annual interruptions in construction work due to the often harsh winter in this mountain region. The areas in which construction was carried out were separated from the operationally used areas by provisional bulkheads. The clear differences, which can be observed above all on the south side of the church, both in the ashlar structure, as well as in the profiles of the window openings and in the cornice, such as the profiles of the pillar bases, nevertheless suggest that between the individual construction phases, especially between the second and third, a certain distance.
The choir, which was destroyed in the revolution except for the lower two to three meters, was rebuilt at the end of the 1970s according to the original plans and predominantly with the existing original material. Its central apse is flanked by the two smaller side apses, all of which have a semicircular floor plan on the inside. The central apse bears on a about two meters high circumferential base projection of the apse wall an approximately equally high arcature of five arched arcades on six columns of smooth slightly upwardly tapered shafts, the sculptured with vegetable capitals, profiled fighters and bases are fitted on quite high plinths . Three of the six capitals have been repaired. A cantilevered cornice with multiple profiles surrounds the apse rounding a good half a meter above the arched apex of the arcature, which continues around the side wall setbacks. Above it rises the vault in the form of a half dome, which is decorated with slightly bulky, radially arranged belt arches, in the same arrangement as the arcature of the apse. The belt arches meet in the crown of the vault in a semicircular disc. The edge of the entrance arcade to the choir is dissolved all around into a strong, sharp-edged setback, which is designed as a double wedge arch at the top. In the choir apse there is only one slender, arched window with slightly widened walls.
The two much smaller side apses or chapels, with half domes, have smooth walls and vaults, only the vault approaches are decorated with profiled cantilever cornices. At the apex of each apse there is a round arched window, which is significantly smaller than the one in the middle apse. As with the central apse, the edges of the entrance arcades are set back.
In front of the three apse choir is the spacious double transept, the upper parts of which have been restored together with the choir.
The east or second transept was covered in the middle or in its crossing by a dome. Some remains of it have been found, including parts of trumpets. Instead of restoring it true to the original, it was replaced by a concrete cloister vault . This at least gave this crossing its original volume. The north and south arms of this transept were probably covered with half or one-hip barrel vaults before they were destroyed. During the renovation, this was replaced solely by the sloping beam position of the roof, which is clad with wooden formwork. The arcades between the crossing and the transept arms are the same height as the one in front of the choir apse. This also applies to the type and height of their cantilever cornices at the arches. The arcades are set back on both sides of the wall, like that of the choir apse. From the southern arm of the second transept, a single-winged door leads into a small chapel room with a groin vault, which was added here in the 14th to 15th centuries and was probably used as a sacristy. There is no exit to the cemetery on the north side of the double transept. This was done by a door in the old church tower, which is connected to the transept and the main nave.
The western or first transept is less deep than the second and has obviously turned out to be quite asymmetrical due to parts of the previous structure. In the area of the south transept arm there was obviously the rather small old chapter house in the 11th century , traces of which have been found there, such as walls made of irregular rubble stones. The western wall of this room with a carefully bricked round arched twin window with hammered false joints and a weathered, perhaps reused, small column in the middle, with a capital with V-shaped decorations, a twisted column shaft ring and a non-profiled, sharp-edged cover plate, is their whole The height was preserved and belonged to the early Romanesque building. The south and north walls of this small building as well as its original floor were discovered here, the latter was about 90 centimeters lower than the current one of the church. It is possible that this room was covered by a barrel vault. It is believed that traces of it can be seen on the western wall, unless it is the remains of the former staircase, which since the 12th century has allowed the monks direct access to the church from the dormitory on the upper floor. In any case, together with the former tower in the north, they are the only visible traces of the priory from the 11th century. Presumably one must also include a curved wall under the crossing of the first transept, which could fit the former choir apse of the church of this century.
The crossing of the first transept is vaulted by a pointed barrel, as an extension of the vault of the main nave. Narrow and quite high arched arcades, the southern one is significantly higher than the northern one, connect these with the transept arms. Their edges also show the setbacks, as they are known from the choir and the second transept. This does not apply to those at the transition to the main nave. The northern arm is vaulted by a barrel in the same direction as that of the neighboring crossing. The significantly higher southern arm was probably initially covered with a half or one-hip barrel in the same direction. Today there is a sloping wooden ceiling, like the one in the arms of the second transept. Wide and unevenly high arcades with the well-known setbacks connect the transept arms with one another. The two crossings are connected by an arcade, the size and cross-section of which corresponds roughly to that of the main nave. From the southern arm of the first transept, a narrow door leads directly into the cloister, the second in the south wall to the former chapter house, whose strong contender profiles are decorated with plant-based bas-reliefs. Above that there was another door into the dormitory on the upper floor of the convent building, to which a staircase led that no longer exists today.
The most recent excavations below the double transept have revealed that the central pillars of this eastern section of the building stand on mighty square foundations that include the rocky ground and are anchored to one another with strong walls, thus ensuring great cohesion for the whole. These static precautionary measures and also the large dimensions of the transept piers indicate that these are the tallest parts of the structure.
The three-bay main nave is covered by a pointed barrel vault that had to be restored over and over again. It is supported by slender, slightly sharpened arcades, the girdle arches and pillars of which show the setbacks on both sides that are already familiar from the choir and transept. The vaults and arches of the arcades are marked by profiled cantilever cornices. Blind arcades embedded in the wall fields of the side walls between the arcades of the ship, which completely occupy the width between the pillars and are covered in an almost round arch, the outer apex of which lies a short distance below the cantilever cornices. They are used statically as relief arches. Its edges are again completely dissolved into the familiar setbacks.
In the west wall on the ground floor, which is quite thick due to the deeply stepped portal, the large rectangular two-winged main portal opens, which is covered flush with the wall by a smooth monolithic lintel and a relief arch made of wedge stones . The inner wall surface in which the door is located originally extended across the entire width between the pillars in the corners of the west wall and reached just below the circular oculus . A relatively narrow platform was created in front of the wall on the upper floor , which could perhaps also be used as a choir's pulpit .
In the 16th or 17th century the area of the gallery was increased significantly. In front of the west wall of the ground floor, a 1.20 meter thick wall was built, which ends at the top with the old pedestal, in which an approximately five meter wide and arched niche is cut out to the full depth of the wall, in the background of which the main portal opens. Their arch approaches are marked by fighter profiles. In front of this wall is a strip of a flat ceiling with a profiled visible edge, which rests on six stone stepped consoles. It has a Renaissance-style limestone balustrade on its edge . At its northern end there is a passage with the connection of a stone flight of stairs along the northern outer wall, the access to the gallery. A wooden railing limits the free side of the stairs. In addition to its function as a singing pulpit, the grandstand offers space for the installation of an organ .
In addition to the main portal in the facade, the nave is accessed through a door in the first and third yoke that open onto the cloister and on the north side in the third yoke via the old tower and its outer door to the cemetery. The Romanesque door in the third bay facing the cloister has been replaced by a door in the Renaissance style.
In addition to the large oculus in the west wall, the nave is naturally lit by a round-arched window in the middle of each yoke, which open over the pent roof ridge of the cloister.
The sarcophagus set up in the first yoke seems to have been discovered in the 18th century, only to be transported away like a treasure before 1930. It was then transferred from an antiquarian in Avignon to a Dr. René Gutmann was sold to decorate the gardens of his property in Beaume Damazan (Gard). In 1982 the piece returned to Ganagobie, due to the legacy of its owner.
Two long sides and one head side are decorated with extremely archaic-looking and little deep bas-reliefs, which consist almost entirely of engraved grooves. The long side, visible to the visitor, is delimited on the top by an arcade made up of ten squat, round-arched blind arcades that stand on a continuous narrow band. Below that, from about the middle to halfway to the left, there are two squares and an upright rectangle, which are filled with grids of simple grooves. On the far left there are two daisy flowers, the larger of which extends into the arcature above and a spiral groove. Half right, a frontal view of a naked person is shown, who stretches her arms and legs sideways and whose hands are bulky with spread fingers. A large spiral follows on the far right. The blind arcades and other backgrounds are filled with drill holes. On the non-visible side there is said to be a person holding a bow, perhaps a hunting scene.
The sarcophagus is primarily dated from the 7th to the 8th century, but then also to the twelfth. In view of recent excavations, one tends to believe today that it could have come from the beginnings of the monastery, that is, from the late 9th or 10th century.
- painting
Painted plasterboards could still be seen in the main apse at the end of the 19th century. A photo by Père Gibbal from 1892 shows Christ surrounded by his apostles. More recent excavations have brought the remains of this image to light.
Above all, numerous remains of window panes were found. D. Foy collected over three hundred painted disk pieces in the course of the research. They represent five-colored decorative motifs, folds, people and inscriptions, which are stylistically assigned to the middle of the 12th century. They are therefore among the oldest stained glass in southern France.
In addition to the colorful floor mosaics and stained glass, one has to imagine Romanesque frescoes on the walls and vaults of the church, which together offered an enormous wealth of colors that is difficult to imagine given today's bare and plain surfaces.
Cloister
construction
The cloister of Ganagobie with its north gallery nestles in the angle between the south wall of the main nave and the west wall of the south arm of the first transept and has three entrances to the church. The floor plan of the massive and compact building, which is characterized by Cistercian austerity, is not exactly square, but forms an irregular rectangle on the courtyard side, the south and west sides of which are slightly bent in the middle. This phenomenon is probably due to previous buildings that one wanted to take into account in his system. Towards the end of the 19th century, the south-eastern part of the cloister, which had already been devastated during the Revolution, collapsed. It was already valid before, at the time of the archaeological congress in 1878 "badly dilapidated" and was then restored between 1895 and 1905 under the direction of the architect Henri Révoil. In doing so, one seems to have oriented oneself to the original shape. The columns in the south and east gallery that were replaced at that time can be recognized as such, as can the newly built vaulted section of the south-east corner.
The cloister galleries are on average 2.80 meters wide and enclose the small green courtyard, which in its center contains a very large cistern sunk into the ground , which contained the drinking water supply of the monks' community.
The galleries are covered on all sides by pent roofs at an incline of around 30 degrees, those with red hollow tiles in Roman format, also known as monk-nun tiles . At the corners, the roofs meet in common diagonal valleys . The cloister was never two-story.
Similar to those in Montmajour, Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, Saint-Michel-de-Frigolet and in Aiguebelle, two arcatures per gallery open into the courtyard, each containing four arched arcades in the aisle-side wall half and in the courtyard-side wall half of each a very wide blind arcade with a basket handle-shaped arch (also flat segment arch ) are enclosed and covered. The arch approaches are not marked by fighters and remain somewhat above the fighters of the arcatures. These arcatures are separated in the middle of the aisle and at the corners by strong, sharp-edged pillars that are flush with the walls on the aisle and courtyard side. The arcatures on the gallery side stand with their small pillars on parapets around 50 centimeters high , which are slightly wider than the upper half of the wall, which are carried out as a base in front of the pillars inside and outside. Its four arcade arches each stand on a pair of pillars, the two middle ones stand on four interconnected pillars. The wall surfaces on the courtyard side end with a simple cornice under the slightly protruding eaves of the pent roof.
The galleries are covered by single-hip barrel vaults, the outer vaults of which are arranged much higher than those on the courtyard side. They are supported by strong belt arches, almost square in cross-section, three pieces per gallery opposite the pillars and one diagonal in the corners of the cloister. The vault approaches are marked by strong, profiled cantilever profiles which are led around the ends of the belt arches and are predominantly supported by smooth, partly sculpted cantilever consoles, the front visible edge of which is rounded.
The cloister is enclosed in the west, south and east by convent buildings, some of which are or were two-story. In the north and north-east the cloister rests directly on the south wall of the church and the west wall of the transept.These walls were reinforced with front walls, the third yoke by a large basket-handle arch and in the second yoke by two round-arched blind arcades between the buttresses and additional pilasters get supported. On the west wall of the southern arm of the first transept, or the old chapter room, a basket-handle arch could hold the small door and the old twin window and put them in the right light.
Sculpture of the cloister
The sculpture of the cloister on the mountain couldn't be simpler, clearer or more sober. The twin columns of the gallery armatures are crowned by shared double capitals, which are decorated with broad stylized leaves in only five or six shapes, characteristic of the last quarter and the end of the 12th century. Only one capital on the east side of the southwest pillar shows two human heads with wide open eyes, one of them with a hooked nose and grimacing. Blossom branches with foliage spring from her wide open mouth. The common cover plates are profiled expansively. Their bases are profiled with double round bars and stand on angular plinths with corner spurs. On the corner pillars, in the vertical edges that point to the cross-aisle corners, a column is embedded in corresponding setbacks, which roughly corresponds to the columns of the arcatures. The pillar in the north-west corner has a broad Corinthian capital and a shaft with a bas-relief of a front-facing man in a dominant posture with a serious face. He has thrown a finely folded coat over his left shoulder and pulled it under his right arm and presses it firmly against his body with his left. He is interpreted as an apostle, perhaps St. Peter, patron of the Abbey of Cluny. In the same corner of the cloister, the consoles on which the belt arches stand are also carved. Four with vegetal decor, one with acanthus leaves and one with foliage. Two others present fully round animal heads, one of which is a wolf's head with a half-open mouth and bared teeth. Opposite, a bull's head sticks out its tongue and is reminiscent of ancient models. Three other consoles with geometric motifs enliven other areas of the cloister.
Similar to the church, the cloister consists of medium-sized ashlar ashlar masonry, but with narrower layers.
Dating of the cloister
The cloister was only built after the completion of the church, i.e. not before the third quarter of the 12th century. However, it should not have been after 1220. On this date, Gersende, Countess of Provence in Ganagobie , signed a document “in capitulo infra clausrum” . In another document from 1206, Ganagobie is also referred to as "claustrum" , unless the word means the monastery as a whole. The decoration and construction of the cloister point to its construction during the last quarter of the 12th century.
Convent building
The monastery buildings around the cloister seem to have been erected at the same time as it, or directly behind one another.
East wing
At least four single-wing doors open in the east gallery of the cloister. At the north end, a narrow gate gives access to the south arm of the first transept. The monks use them for a long time during the day to go to church for worship. The almost square chapter house adjoins this part of the transept and is connected to it by a slender, arched door. From the cloister it is accessed by a round-arched doorway, which is flanked by two windows with twin arcades. These three openings illuminate the chapter house and cannot be closed. In the middle of the east wall a small round-arched window was cut out, with greatly expanded walls, which was flanked by two rectangular openings with similar walls. The ceiling, which has collapsed today, rests on basket-handle-shaped blind arcades across the width of the room on the east and west walls, one for the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. Century characteristic building element. A simple stone bench runs along three walls. The buttress on its north wall is engraved with a Benedictine signature at about head height, namely a cross with the letters CSOB = Crux Sankti Patris Benedicti .
In the corner between the south wall of the second transept and the east wall of the chapter hall, a small room was added in the 14th to 15th centuries, which is accessed via a door from this transept and covered by a groin vault. It is a Gothic chapel that was also used as a sacristy.
The chapter house is followed to the south by a passage that leads from the cloister to the eastern outer area, to terraces over the steep banks of the Durance valley. Today you can still reach a large, largely dilapidated area in the southeast corner of the monastery, which was directly connected to the cloister via a second door. Two more doors opened into the refectory . This area was certainly divided into different rooms, such as a monks' hall, a parlatorium and / or a calefactorium . In order to determine its purpose, this area would have to be exposed. In this area, perhaps also in the aforementioned passage, there was a second staircase to the upper floor, which extended over the entire east wing and no longer exists today. The monks' dormitory was once housed there, which was directly connected to the church at the north end via a staircase.
South wing
(Pp. 150–151)
To the east of this wing without a floor is the rather large refectory , which was very carefully restored by R. Révoil at the beginning of the 20th century. The two-bay hall is covered by two almost square ribbed vaults, which correspond to the original vaults from the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. They are divided in the middle by a round arched arcade made of a strong belt arch, the edges of which are broken up into round bars and which stands on strong semicircular services , the stepped wall pillars are in front. The services are with vegetable carved capitals, multi-profiled fighters and bases, on angular plinths that are decorated with corner spurs. The cross ribs have almost square, sharp-edged cross-sections in the west yoke, the undersides of which are profiled with three round bars in the east yoke and meet in round keystones that are barely wider. They stand on both sides of the services on two slimmer services in setbacks of the wall pillars, which are about 2/3 as high as the thick services and are similarly equipped. Since a cross rib, a shield arch rib and a blind arcade arch meet in the eastern corners of the room, these stand on three of these smaller services. The arch rib on the east wall is decorated with a zigzag pattern, the edge of the blind arcade is dissolved into a round bar. The relatively high hall is illuminated by two arched windows in the south wall, which is supported on the outside by three buttresses. The refectory is accessed from the cloister via a round arched door directly next to the west wall, the sides of which are decorated with columns. In the west wall, near the outer wall, a door into the neighboring kitchen was cut out, which ensured short connections from the cooking area to consumption in the dining room.
The outer walls, some of the partitions, of the following rooms and the entire west wing are dated to the 17th century and are accordingly reconstructions of the buildings destroyed in the wars of religion.
Behind the west wall of the refectory follows a small kitchen at the same depth, on the north wall of which there is still the rather deep and high open fireplace. It is covered by a groin vault and illuminated from a window in the south wall. It is accessed through a door in its west wall.
Behind this there is another passage between the cloister and the gardens, which, as today, are located south and below the monastery.
The south-west corner of the convent building contains a room in which one can still find traces of the former bread oven. The access door in the passage provides a short transport route for the baked bread across the kitchen for consumption in the refectory.
West wing
The west wing, which is probably always on the ground floor, had a further passage as an extension of the south gallery of the cloister, with an entrance that was heavily renovated towards the end of the 19th century. It is believed that this was once the main entrance to the monastery. The other hall between the passage and the church has been partially chiselled into the surrounding rock, and accordingly significantly lower than the cloister. It is covered by a pointed barrel vault. Except for the outer wall, it was largely preserved and was probably always a storage and economic area. You enter it through the access door at the north end of the west gallery. Former wall connections still to be found inside in the form of toothing are evidence of the subdivisions into several rooms made in the 16th if not in the 17th century. There should still be a Renaissance entrance door and the remains of a classic staircase.
More buildings
In the southeast of the monastery you can still see ruins of residential buildings from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Towards the southwest, the old farm buildings (17th to 19th centuries) follow along the original access path. They were repaired in the 1980s for a new, small Benedictine community that fills this high-altitude place with new life.
A two-storey wing, more than twice as long, runs parallel and at a good distance from the west wing, which is divided into three sections according to the sloping terrain and covered with gable roofs. At its southern end, another large, three-storey structure swings to the east at a right angle and roughly twice as wide. Between this and the south wing of the monastery there are extensive green areas and gardens in the center of which a kind of cloister is laid out. The known sources do not provide any information about the type and function of these facilities, which were probably built in the 20th century.
Mosaic floors
Overview
The Church of the Priory of Ganagobie, in its present state, offers an ensemble of floor mosaics which, in terms of size and iconographic richness, are certainly the most important in France.
The mosaic floor covering completely covers the choir apse except for the altar recess, the transept-side part of the side apses, at a depth of 1.60 / 1.70 meters, and the strip across the entire width of the eastern transept, originally a total area of over 70 square meters, of which around ten today Square meters in the crossing of the second transept have completely disappeared.
The mosaic is on two different floor levels, both of which are slightly higher than the rest of the church floor. On the ship side, a vertical stone border delimits the mosaics of the first level, which forms the first step across the entire width of the transept to the apses at a height of 20 centimeters. The second level is 24 centimeters higher in the central apse, 13 centimeters in the northern apse and 17 centimeters in the southern apse than the first. These steps are again delimited vertically with stone slabs. In the middle area of the choir apse, an intermediate step 12 centimeters high has been presented.
In the 19th century the mosaics were no longer known because they were completely covered by rubble and debris. Between 1897 and 1898 they were rediscovered by the Benedictine Fathers Dom Gauthey, Gibbal and Santin. In addition to photographs, they made natural-size breaks from the mosaics. According to this exact documentation, MF Rigault, under the direction of Jean-Claude Rochette, made a model in a quarter of the natural size. This model is in the refectory today. As a wise precaution, they were then covered again with a layer of earth. Only after the renovation work on the chancel had been completed in 1975 was it uncovered again, detached from the subsoil and taken to the restoration workshops of the monument authority in Périgueux. Since 1985 they have been back in their original place.
Apses
Central apse
In the middle of the choir apse once stood the high altar, which has obviously been lost. It was probably similar to the altars in the compartment churches of Sénanque, Silvacane or Lure. The completely preserved mosaic surrounded the altar on all sides. To the west it is delimited by precisely hewn stones that form a fold to which it connects.
In front of the altar a dense, irregular white and black network develops in an elongated rectangle, which stands out well against the red background.
In the apse curvature a procession of quite large mythical creatures unfolds , which are framed in white and mostly spotted with black - the fish are speckled red - and protrude on the sides from a red or black background in the axis of the apse. All stand with the left side of their bodies turned towards the viewer, and their front body points outwards.
From left to right they are:
- No. 5: In a white circular ring with a diameter of 1.10 meters, which is bordered by black stones, an unhappily proportioned elephant stands on the hooves of a bull in front of the circular ring. The artists of that time in the West only knew elephants from oral traditions, sketches, fabrics or ivory carvings , so that such deformities were normal. Its trunk hangs out between the tusks of a wild boar like a tongue, its ears are unnaturally small. The pachyderm carries a house with two windows on his back, next to it a tower with windows and battlements that are reminiscent of the canopies that used to carry elephants, in which oriental princes hid themselves.
- No. 6: This is followed by a cat-like mane-less animal, perhaps a lion that has turned on itself (see position of the rear paws) to bite its front paws. It is an attitude of aggressiveness or play that is also found in the winged animals in the north transept arm.
- No. 7: A splendid, noble griffin with a lion's body and wings on the shoulders and a splendid eagle head turned backwards, with a heron bush. It seems to bite the tip of the left wing with its beak. His right front paw is raised and his tail curls under his hind legs over the back through his fur to the other side of the back and ends in a bushy tassel .
- No. 8: A cat-like animal, probably a lion, in a heraldic, majestic stance with open mouth and maliciously bared teeth, ready to bite, with a tail that resembles that of the griffin, but whose tassel resembles a stylized flower bud.
- No. 9.1: Two fish on top of each other of different lengths are the only ones striving to the right (inside).
- No. 9.2: A centaur with a bare human torso, diabolical head, pointed ears or horns and a four-legged body, with the hooves of a bull. He turns his upper body backwards, holds a bow in his left hand, which he draws with his right and which aims with the arrow at the nearest creature. An edge of dead stones accentuates the quiver on the belt around his waist.
- No. 10: The last mythical creature is again in a circular ring, but remains in the circle with its paws. It is a cat-like animal, the indicated longitudinal stripes do not suggest a tiger. His open eyes are turned towards the viewer, his mouth with bared teeth is grimly open. Its tail is twisted like that of the griffin.
- These animal figures are complemented by a snake-shaped palmette and a kind of Solomonic knot, motifs to which one can also associate the heron bush of the griffin, the flower bud-like ends of the animal tails and perhaps also the fish.
Leo, Pisces and Sagittarius are reminiscent of signs of the zodiac . But overall, the perfectly balanced composition is divided into three scenes, each with a cat: on the left the lion with the elephant, in the middle the lion with the griffin and on the right the lion with the centaur.
Around the periphery of the choir apse, at a height of about 11-13 cm, runs a black stripe lined with red borders, with a Latin inscription in capitals . It read
- ME PRIOR ET FIERI BERTRANNE IVBES ET HABERI ET PETRVS VRGEBAT TRVTBERTI MEQ: REGEBAT
German: “Prior Bertrand, you ordered me to be created; Pierre Trutbert promoted and directed my execution ”.
The client and the execution of this work are documented with this distich . It says that Prior Bertrand commissioned this magnificent flooring and that Pierre Trutbert carried out the work.
Side apsides
In the two side apses, the Romanesque mosaics cover the front part of the floor on the transept side. At the front and back it is bounded by a decorative frame that borders a limestone step at the front and supported itself against another, no longer existing, 15 centimeter higher step at the back. In this rear part there was a table altar that rested on a central pillar.
- Northern side apse
The beautiful composition of this apse is full of life and realism. It consists of three panels placed side by side, a narrow middle and two broad outer ones.
- No. 1.1: In the right section, a knight in armor attacks his white horse riding at a fast gallop to the left. The scene takes place on a black and red background. The horse's mane and tail are shown in detail. He wears a long horizontal red and white striped tunic , very sharp decorated with buckles toed shoes with spurs . His head is protected by a helmet pulled down low, while his body is completely hidden behind a long shield that is semicircular at the top and pointed at the bottom. The white shield has a red border and in the middle a round white hump with a black spot. The knight holds the shield together with the red reins with his left arm. The long white one in his right hand is pointed at the mythical beasts to chase them away. The reins of the harness are connected to the bridle with a curved red bow. The red saddle holds a breast shield and two black waist belts on the neck of the mount.
- No. 1.2: In the scene of the red-ground central panel, a devilish monster has raised itself on its back paws, in white on a red background. A left-facing body with four slender legs and a long tail is probably that of a buck with the ribs protruding and the genitals emphasized. He holds the delicate front legs in front of his body almost vertically upwards. The head has devil horns, a monstrously deformed face, a chin protruding far forward and a stuffed nose, it seems to indicate a smile.
- No. 1.3: The left part of this rich composition, also in white with a black frame on a red background, represents a monster, chimera and dragon at the same time, which strives to the right towards the devil. The front body of the animal depicts a winged lion with a long neck and the rear body a kind of snake with the head of a hydra at the end of its coiled body . The front paws are enormous. his left hand is stretched upwards. The wings that have grown on the shoulders seem ready to fly. A long, forwardly curved neck of a billy goat with backward-curved horns rises between the wings from the back of the monster . A chimera is such a three-headed monster that the hero Bellerophon killed with the help of his winged steed Pegasus . Below and between the monster's claws, a dog-like four-legged creature, probably a fox , with a long tail strives forward, protected by the chimera and which seems to bark at the satyr.
Southern side apse
In this side apse, similar to the one in the north, a three-part scene develops on a black and red background.
- No. 15: A slender rectangle (0.82 × 1.49 meters) placed on edge is enclosed by a wide frame with white winding foliage on a black background. In it, a white bull with two bodies and one head rises on a red background. A huge, hideous misshapen human head in frontal view devours the two tails of the bull with its mouth wide open.
- No. 14: On the left, in a circular ring with a diameter of 1.80 meters, appears a hybrid creature in the body of an ostrich with a bushy tail with a hideous woman's head with a red heron bush, perhaps a harpy . She rides a bird to the right, with the neck of a swan or an ostrich. Your feet on long legs are in easily recognizable shoes. Everything in white on a black background. At the bottom of the circular ring is a snakehead that faces the center.
- No. 16: On the right hand in the same circular ring with a snake's head, a magnificent stag and towering antlers runs from right to left. He is apparently wounded by an arrow stuck in his neck.
The spaces between the three scenes are filled with vegetal and animal decorations. On the far left a beautiful griffin, on the far right a front view of a mare playing with her foal, which because of its long ears looks more like a donkey.
Eastern transept
The major part of this transept directly in front of the three apses is covered by a floor mosaic like a precious carpet, which has been rolled out in front of the altars. It is composed of seven large rectangular to square sections, which are decorated alternately geometrically or narrative without any symmetry and which are all surrounded by narrow white frames. Not all sections are also partially or completely bounded by wider ones decorated with braided patterns. The three outer fields are bordered by a wide band above the first step, which is decorated with various looped geometric braiding patterns. This band is bounded by narrow white bands and marked transversely at the section boundaries.
North transept arm
The first two fields next to the north wall show such a decoration on the front edge over its entire width with ten repeating motifs. The 4.50 × 0.50 meter braided ribbon is edged in white and black, the motifs are on a red or black and red background. The band forms a circular ring which is separated or connected to the following by a kind of twisted knot. The same endless ribbons are woven into these rings in the form of four-leaf flower rosettes that enclose the circular ring four times. The band over the ten rings is also endless.
- No. 2: In the left, slightly rectangular and smaller field, 1.15 × 1.96 meters in size, without the aforementioned wide border, there is a tendril that is evenly distributed over the entire surface, consisting of white, black-edged tendrils on three A quarter of a red and a quarter of a black background. An endless tendril encloses a total of three times three = nine large circles, which are separated or connected to one another with smaller twisted knots. Each ring-shaped tendril has a curled rung at four diagonally opposite points that fill the free areas between the circles. Until then, all ten motifs are very similar. Except for the bottom three, the fillings of the circles are designed differently. Except for the upper middle asymmetrical motif of a bellflower seen from the side, all the others are symmetrically divided into two equal halves, with a sometimes vertical and sometimes horizontal axis of symmetry . It is a matter of plant-based sprouting.
- No. 3: In the following larger and rectangular field to the right, 2.86 × 2.03 meters in size, cavort in three parallel registers on two black and one middle red background three times four = twelve quite lively white monsters with black borders Lines. On the black background, the black one is followed by a red border.
- Nos. 3.1–3.4: In the upper stripe four small winged monsters can be seen, all of which strive to the left in a more or less twisted manner.
- No. 3.1: The first is a kind of kite with the head and tail of a crocodile tripping on clawed feet in front. A red tongue hangs out of the mouth of the carefully drawn reptile head between the bared, sharp teeth.
- No. 3.2: The second is a bird of prey with powerful claws. It has an unusually long neck that can bend so far that it can bite into it with its strong beak above the shoulder. He keeps his wings wide open. His head is crowned by a plume of feathers.
- No. 3.3; The third is a siren bird with a human head and disheveled hair or plumage, or a harpy eagle with outspread wings and a wide-spread tail.
- No. 3.4: The fourth is another bird, but with a long powerful beak and a tall heron bush on its head. He holds a tendril in his beak, which is decorated at the end as it can be found on several lions in these mosaics. Maybe he stole one too.
- No. 3.5–3.8: In the middle stripe, four lions are presented in heraldic pose, each facing in pairs, the left or right side of the body facing the viewer. Especially the bodies of the two on the left are strong and heavy. The lions all hold up their front paws on the opposite side of the body and they have the curled tail between their hind legs and then up past the middle body. The tail end ends at three in a decorative bushy tassel. In all of them, the tail seems to be led through two cuts laterally into the fur and thus held. But the sculptors probably meant that the tail was held by the fur hair. A strange detail can be found on the hind legs and on one of the fore legs of three of the lions. It is a black paw or Templar cross (certainly not a crutch cross). This could indicate that Ganagobie Monastery had good contacts with the Knights Templar at the time. Perhaps these stout lions should symbolize good lions, like the Knights Templar in the Holy Land.
- Nos. 3.5 + 3.6: The two lions' bodies on the left have a common head, as is often found on the corners of Romanesque capitals, which faces the viewer with an open snout and bared teeth.
- No. 3.7 + 3.8: The two lions on the right are hissing at each other with their snouts torn open and teeth bared.
- Nos. 3.9–3.12: Only birds are shown on the lower stripe .
- No. 3.9: The first sweeping step hurries to the left, turning his head backwards. It has a long beak and a long plume on the back of the head.
- No. 3.10: The second is a heraldic eagle that stands facing the viewer with its wings wide open. The body has a head with two beaks to the sides and a single eye in the middle between them.
- No. 3.11: Another bird follows, similar to the first, but striving to the right. Its neck is bent low and in its beak it is holding a recently caught fish.
- No: 3.12: The fourth and last bird stands on the right leg, also facing to the right, and pinches its left foot with its beak.
Crossing of the east transept
It is likely that the willful collapse of the former bell tower in 1794 permanently damaged this part of the mosaic. Nevertheless, the three picture fields can be distinguished in this area. The middle one and the largest at 2.80 × 2.06 meters, perhaps also the one with the most beautiful decor, has completely disappeared.
- No. 4: The left image field, 2.52 × 2.05 meters in size, is enclosed on the sides and top by an approximately twenty centimeter wide frame, which is accompanied inside and outside by white and black lines, and one continuous and white closely twisted one Spiral shows. The front 50 centimeter wide strip is decorated with largely destroyed tendrils and flowers. The image field itself is filled with tendrils similar to that of the northernmost field. Again white tendril bands, with black edges, on a red and pink background, form six complete circular rings and on the right edge three thirds of the circles, all of which are connected or separated from one another with small twisted knots. In the upper area of these circles, downwardly curved tendril shoots grow hanging from both sides, of which a leaf fan, consisting of a sickle-shaped, an almond-shaped and an almost round leaf with a small black hole, is directed outwards. At first glance, these ornaments appear like stylized faces with thick noses and squinting eyes under the forehead. The gussets between the circular ornaments are decorated with flower rosettes of marguerites, in the gussets on the frames there are three-leaf fans.
- No. 11: About two thirds of the right picture field is 1.55 × 2.05 meters, and is similar to the left, framed by wide frames with twisted and interwoven tendrils. In the image field itself there are again the white, black-edged tendrils on a red background, which form circular rings with a diameter of 72 centimeters, four complete and at the top two half, which are connected or separated with each other with twisted knots. The semicircles contain stylized flower rosettes, which could be interpreted as follows in the entire circular rings:
- No. 11.1: top left: A griffin, a winged hybrid creature consisting of a slender lion's body and a bird's head, bird's claws on four legs, an almond-shaped plume on the back of the head. The animal striving to the left has turned its head back and opens its powerful crook-beak to bite the tips of its wing. The tail winds through between its hind legs and forward along its left thigh, where it splits into two leaves.
- No. 11.2: Above right: A hybrid creature made of a cat or a lion striving to the left, on paws with long toes. Its neck is turned backwards with a square head, the human face with cat ears on top can be seen in frontal view. The tail of the animal winds up again between the hind legs to the side of the body, held by the fur, and there splits in a Y-shape, a kind of stylized hand that spreads the human mouth wide open.
- No. 11.3: bottom left: an elephant turning to the left. Again he carries a “castle” on his back, similar to the scene in the not far away central apse.
- No. 11.4: below right: A monster from a common body seen from the front on two legs on paws with long toes and two erect wings. Long downwardly curved necks emerge on both sides of the body behind the wings, on the left with a bird's head with a crooked beak and on the right with a predator's head, both of which bite into one leg of the hybrid creature.
Similar to the picture on the left, there are marguerite rosettes in the spandrels between the circular rings and leaf fans on the frame.
South transept arm
In this there are two different sized fields of view, symmetrical to those in the north arm of the transept.
- No. 12: The left slightly rectangular field, between two vertical stripes of triple wickerwork, is 2.15 × 2.05 meters and shows a large, broad-armed St. Andrew's cross on a red and black background, the arms of which end exactly in the corners of the surface. with a filling of black and white stones, arranged in a checkerboard pattern, which can also be found in the center of the cross. The arms are accompanied on both sides by two white, black-edged ribbons or tendrils that grow outwards. The inner ends with the cross arms in triple leaf fans. The inner ones follow the curve of the outer fan leaf and end in common large palmettes that have grown together at the tips, the outer leaves of which roll up tightly as further leaf fans. With this foliage all triangles between the arms of the cross are completely filled.
- No. 13: In the 1.35 × 2.08 meter field on the right there is a beautiful figurative scene, in white with black borders on a black background. The black edges are accompanied by red lines on the outside. In the upper part of the composition, a knight, undoubtedly St. George , rides to the right on a white horse and, with his upper body turned towards the viewer, defeats the dragons rolling under him . He is dressed in chain armor with flared sleeves that reaches below the knees and covers the lower part of the face. The cone-shaped helmet also covers the back of his neck. The black and white checkerboard pattern emphasizes the mesh of the tank. In his left hand he holds the red reins and a small circular shield with a white border, the inside of which can be seen with the handle. With his right hand, which he holds up far back, he has grasped the long white lance with which he thrusts into the wide open mouth of the dragon with sharp teeth. The horse keeps its hind legs close together while keeping the front right hoof raised high. Its tail is wrapped. The horse appears to be heavier than that in the north side apse, with a less balanced volume. The straps, stirrup leathers and round stirrups of the red-white and red-framed saddle are worked out in detail.
Under the horse, the winged dragon with the head of a lion, the wings and claws of an eagle and the rump of a snake, in white with black and red spots, is winding. The tip of the lance has penetrated the whole head and protrudes from the back of the head. A heron bush makes the animal appear more elegant. The remaining areas of the main scene are filled with some stylized motifs and complete the balanced composition. They resemble those of the main apse, such as the Solomonic knot, serpentine palmettes and flowers. On the lower left edge a bird's head with a crooked beak peeps out, in which it holds a structure that resembles some of the tail ends of the lions and monsters shown here.
The southern edge of the last image field is bordered by a double braided band, white on a black background and with a red background. The band, which is already 50 centimeters wide in the north transept arm, continues in the south. In front of the St. Andrew's cross there is an eight-fold wickerwork band and forms a closed white mat on a black background with red dots. To the right of this is a motif of loose chain lines with vertical and horizontal spindles with a chessboard-like filling.
technology
Ganagobie's mosaics differ considerably from ancient works, both in their style and in their design. The stones are no longer cubes, the dimensions of which do not exceed 15 × 15 millimeters, but truncated pyramids whose dimensions adapt to the respective requirements. With a few exceptions, they are larger: from 15 × 23 to 25 × 30 millimeters. Their tops are mostly rectangular, but never square. Like the bricks, they have an extension to facilitate insertion. After all, the rustic design of the details - the surfaces show certain reliefs - contrasts with the overall impression of a perfect composition.
The following colors dominate the pictures:
- White: the fine, now and then grayish-bluish tinted marble from the Embrun area. It is used for most animal motifs and braids.
- Red: the sandstone from local quarries, which is particularly used for the subsoil. In the case of black backgrounds, it is used as a second border around the black outlines of the white areas.
- Black: also a material from the area, namely Lias from the valley of the Sasse, as substrates to emphasize the contours of the animal and plant motifs, but also to emphasize animal shapes.
- Pink: are the very small brick cubes, on average 8 × 10 millimeters, which are used exclusively as a background for the decorative motifs in the transept.
- Green: are very rare marble cubes, for example in the center of the St. Andrew's Cross, which come from the high valley of Ubaye. Sometimes green and black cubes alternate.
- Yellow: are a few stones made of marble that mix with the white at various times, for example in the south apse.
Without a doubt, the master who designed and executed the depictions was Pierre Trutbert. He created the mosaics according to the dimensions and shapes of the found floor surfaces and designed a magnificent and magnificent composition. In the central and southern apse, all motifs are unique and the artist places them side by side in a balanced way. The knight's fight against the monsters in the north apse is made up of diverse but very happily combined elements. The structuring of the panels with ribbons into knotted circular rings into which the animals and monsters bend smoothly are particularly successful.
Attempts at dating
If it were possible to precisely determine the date of origin of the floor mosaics, this would also result in the construction time of the church decorated with it, at least in the affected construction section of the choir and the transepts. Two documents shed light on the passionately discussed dating, namely the inscription on the main apse with some characters typical of the time, and on the other hand the unusually rich iconography of the mosaics.
Inscription in the curve of the main apse
The meaningful inscription not only names the master who designed it and completed it with his people, a Pierre Trutbert, who does not appear anywhere else, but also names the then Prior Bertrand, who arranged for the design and execution. One must actually assume that the last one left some written evidence in the documents of the priory or the diocese of Sisteron. It is known, however, that the old archives of Ganagobie were burned in the 16th century, and what remains of them is known only secondhand, especially from Jean Columbi, a Jesuit from Manosque. Accordingly, the main sources are the Cartulaire de Clunny and a few documents from the diocese of Sisteron. Only a few of the priories of the Middle Ages are known.
Bertrand was a very common name at the time and there are also various Priors of Ganagobie with this name.
For example, Prior Bertrand under Abbot Pierre le Vénérable (1122–1156), based on a Columbi document that no longer exists today, the credibility of which leaves no doubt.
Another prior Bertrand is associated with the date 1173. In that year he negotiated with the Count of Forcalquier Guillaume III. (original document received). This prior is accepted as the commissioner of the mosaics.
The exact studies of the building, especially that of Miss D. Foy, on the style of the stained glass windows that she placed in the middle of the 12th century, justify the assumption that the mosaics were completed around the middle or in the third quarter of the 12th century .
The inscription in the middle apse, with the use of certain letter formats, angular or round, small caps , and uncials or letters with ticks or spurs, and other peculiarities refer to the same date, around the middle of the 12th century or shortly thereafter.
Name research does not come across family names in Provence in the 11th century, like the Petrus Trutbert mentioned here, but is common practice from the beginning of the 12th century. The name Trutbert has been around here since the Carolingian era, also for mosaicists, bishops and counts as well as in the 11th century for the most famous family in Apt.
iconography
The decoration of the mosaic floors contains tendrils, braids, palmettes and common animals as well as mythical and hybrid creatures. These monsters are made up of two or more beings, symbols of sin that deface their own bodies. Their tails often end in stylized flowers or split tassels. Front bodies of human or animal beings, full of movement and suppleness, as from the illustrated bestiaries of medieval or ancient origin. The monsters seem to come straight from the mythical world of the Orient, which fascinated the people of the 12th century.
The fantasy animals are above all decorations that are stylistically closely related to the Orient, which was known through fabrics, carpets and carvings that found their way into the whole west as a result of the Crusades. These served as models for sculptors and mosaicists, as the two-dimensional flatness and multicolor of the fabrics can be transferred particularly well into the mosaic. For example the lively colors, the choice of themes, the dense, geometrical or schematic décor, especially the mythical creatures, alone in the circular rings of the tendril bands, looking at each other or juxtaposed with their backs, in a rigid posture or in full movement, ornamental motifs. It is an extraordinary fauna, flexible and flexible in all positions, in a lush flora, whose meaning everyone knew, but whose meaning can no longer be grasped today.
- In the north apse, the knight chases the monsters, the satyr and the chimera with his lance , a scene that depicts the Christianization of the pagan theme of the Bellerophon , who fights the chimera.
- In the south apse, the stag is the symbol of Christ, as is the mare watching over her cub to the right.
- In the north arm of the transept there is a long line of mythical creatures.
- At the end of the south transept arm, the knight defeats the dragon with the lance, a tool of divine justice, and with the round shield as the halo of the triumphant. This last image field with clear symbolism recalls the legend made popular by the Crusades, in which St. George, a Roman officer, stabs and kills the dragon to whom a young princess was actually intended to be sacrificed. The heroic georg, who was victorious against the monster, therefore became the patron of the crusaders. In connection with the crusades, one must also see the paw crosses on the thighs of the lions, which represent the order of the crusaders.
- The central apse with its cats (lions), elephants, griffins and centaurs has a predominantly decorative effect. These royal-looking animals are symbols of strength and vigilance appear here as guardians of the Holy of Holies on the high altar.
The iconography may also help to circle the date of creation. The clothing and equipment of the knights as well as the horse harness can be compared with similar representations on seals from the first half and the middle of the 12th century. Careful research into these mosaics allows us to assume that it was made in the middle or third quarter of the 12th century.
literature
- Guy Barruol: Romanesque High Provence . Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1984, ISBN 978-3-429-00878-9 , pp. 91-169
- Thorsten Droste : Provence. A companion to the art places and natural beauties in the sunny country of France . 2nd improved edition. DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne, 1986, ISBN 978-3-7701-1727-7 , pp. 337-340
- Thorsten Droste: Dauphiné and Haute-Provence. Discovery trips between the Rhône and the Alps, from Lyon to the Verdon Gorge . DuMont Art Travel Guide, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-7701-2408-1 , pp. 303-307
Web links
- secrets-mysteresdu04.over-blog.com Photos, French texts, etc. a. sarcophagus
- Website of the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of Ganagobie
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Barruol, Guy; Romanesque of High Provence, Zodiaque-Echter Verlag, Würzburg, 1984 (French edition 1977), pp. 91–169
- ^ A b Droste-Hennings, Julia and Droste, Thorsten; "France the South West", DuMont Art Travel Guide, 2007
- ^ Karl Kolb: Tympanum in the Romanesque. Immortal witnesses of Christian faith. Würzburg Echter-Verlag 1981. p. 82
- ↑ castaneda: Le monastère de Ganagobie. Retrieved January 16, 2019 (French).
Coordinates: 43 ° 59 ′ 52 ″ N , 5 ° 54 ′ 29 ″ E