Sacré-Cœur (Paray-le-Monial)
The late Romanesque basilica and former priory church Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart) is in the town of Paray-le-Monial in eastern France , in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in the Saône-et-Loire department . Its narthex with the two-tower facade is reflected in the waters of the Bourbince River flowing past it to the west .
Sacré-Cœur is classified by art historians as the most famous successor to Cluny III and one of the most famous churches in Burgundy. Today's Paray III church replaced two predecessors: an early Romanesque church Paray I, to which the also preserved vestibule with the two-tower westwork was added a few years later, thus becoming Paray II. Before being rededicated in Sacré-Cœur in 1873, the church and its predecessors were under the patronage of Notre-Dame . Their similarities to Cluny III , but on a smaller scale, often led to their nickname "Little Cluny" or "Pocket Edition" of Cluny III .
Paray-le-Monial and its church have been one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in France since the late 19th century .
history
There are no records of an older church dating from around the beginning of the 10th century.
In 973, Count Lambert von Chalon (967–978) founded his own monastery in Paray-le-Monial. His son Hugo von Chalon (987-1039), who was bishop in Auxerre , gave it to the Benedictines of Cluny in 999 .
At this time, the early Romanesque building of the first monastery church had Paray I should be well advanced, because five years later in 1004 it was the fifth abbot of Cluny Odilo (992-1048) consecrate . Its floor plan on a Latin cross with a three-tier staggered choir and two transept chapels and the presumable lack of stone vaults in the naves are somewhat reminiscent of that of Cluny II . It would have found a place in the floor plan of today's church.
After a few years, but still in the first half of the 11th century, the nave was extended to the west by an equally wide, also early Romanesque vestibule with a double tower facade, which led to the Paray II church . In contrast to the rest of the church, this extension is still preserved today in a heavily restored form.
In the second half of the 11th century, after the Moors were expelled from northern Spain, the pilgrimages of Christians living north of the Pyrenees to Jacob's grave in Santiago de Compostela developed , for which the monks in particular promoted and took charge of the organizational implementation. Many monastery churches were no longer sufficient for the increasing number of pilgrims. As in Cluny , a significantly larger building of a pilgrim church awaited Paray , with space for processions around the choir, with several altars and space for relics and their veneration. Above all, the choir parts should be expanded considerably.
The late Romanesque new Paray III building was to begin around 1090. Almost at the same time - in 1095 - Abbot Hugo was able to inaugurate the high altar in the new choir of the Abbey Church of Cluny III . As is usually the case, the erection of the choir head has also started here. To this end, only the choir of the previous building was demolished and the "old" ships were used to continue the services as undisturbed as possible. After all, the pilgrims' donations were needed. With the east part and the transept completed as far as possible, the services could be moved there and, after further demolition, continue to build towards the west. These construction steps are shown in six stages in a locally posted drawing.
The new priory church got a large ambulatory choir with a chapel wreath, a three-aisled choir bay, a wide transept with two chapel apses and a separated crossing and a three-aisled nave, which was originally planned for more than three bays. All rooms were covered with stone vaults, everything as you can still experience it today.
The main work fell during the heyday of the pilgrimages to the tomb of the apostle James the Elder in Santiago de Compostela in the first half of the 12th century, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims traveled south across the Pyrenees every year . During this time, mainly monastic communities, like the Benedictines of Cluny, organized the pilgrimage. Four main routes and a network of secondary routes were formed, on which churches, monasteries, hospices , hostels and also cemeteries were built or expanded.
So also was Paray-le-Monial quite important station of the Way of St. James on a side route of the Via Lemovicensis , with the starting point Vezelay , and the priory was able to participate in his new church and its relics at attracting donations of pilgrims.
Nevertheless, the progress of the work obviously left a lot to be desired. Around 1130/40 the nave reached about the still standing “old” narthex . The sources report a sudden halt and interruption of work when the nave was only half as long as planned and had an unusual almost square shape. Obviously, the decision was made at that time to keep the vestibule with the double-towered westwork of the previous building and to close the nave after three bays.
When the quarrels about Aquitaine between England and France rose after the mid-12th century, the pilgrimage declined and the wars of the 13th and 14th centuries, especially the Hundred Years War (1339-1453), brought a dramatic slump. The monasteries with pilgrim churches had to limit themselves to pilgrimages to their own relics, including that of Paray .
The French mystic Marguerite-Marie Alacoque (1647–1690) entered the Order of the Visitation of Mary in Paray-le-Monial in 1671. These Salesians devoted themselves to contemplation , caring for the poor and sick, and caring for children. Soon after entering the monastery, Marguerite-Marie had a series of apparitions to Jesus who showed her his heart. The most important phenomenon was that of the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1675, at which, according to her own statement, she was commissioned to work for the introduction of the Feast of the Sacred Heart . Marguerite-Marie became novice mistress and died in 1690.
In the 18th century, the cloister adjoining the church to the south was rebuilt, but in perfect harmony with the church. Its south wing now houses a museum, while on the opposite side in the north gallery there is a portal decorated with ornate Romanesque sculptures.
The monastery was closed during the French Revolution . The Benedictines left Paray in 1794. The sources give no information about the destruction of the church and monastery buildings during this time.
Marguerite-Marie was beatified in 1864 and canonized in 1920 . During this time, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus experienced a tremendous upswing, especially in France, where it combined with national tendencies, especially after the lost war in 1870/71 .
The sources report that Paray had a Gothic- style crossing tower that was replaced by a neo-Romanesque replica in the 19th century . It is not known whether the Gothic tower had a Romanesque predecessor and whether it was destroyed during the revolution.
The former priory church of Notre-Dame was consecrated to Sacré-Cœur in 1873 and by Pope Pius IX. raised to the minor basilica . In 1876 it was rededicated to the parish church of Sacré-Coeur . With this Paray-le-Monial gained an importance that it had never had in the Middle Ages as a priory dependent on Cluny.
Paray-le-Monial is still one of the most important pilgrimage sites in France.
Buildings
Paray I
Dimensions approximately, measured from the floor plan and extrapolated.
- Overall length: 43.00 m
- Transept length: 28.00 m
- Length of the nave: 22.00 m
- Longhouse width: 13.00 m
- Relay choir width: 14.50 m
- Staggered choir length: 14.00 m
The first early Romanesque church Paray I would have found its place in the plan of today's church. Its ground plan is documented by the latest excavation finds by Gilles Rollier . The floor plan was based on a Latin cross consisting of a column-free nave, a transept with wide arms and two transept chapels that flanked a three-tier staggered choir. The middle choir was about twice as wide as its side chapels. They were all closed off by semicircular apses. The choir and chapels were separated by partitions with two arcade openings each and were possibly barrel-vaulted, the apses covered by half domes. The nave and transept, with the exception of the chapel apses, probably had no stone vaults, but were covered by open trusses or flat wooden ceilings. The nave and the transept arms were presumably covered with gable roofs aligned transversely to one another . The ridge of the transept remained a little below that of the nave. The ridge of the gable roof above the choir was presumably at the height of the nave ridge, while the pent roofs of the chapels flanking the choir were lower than the choir eaves. This also resulted in the height grading of the apsidal roofs, in the form of half cones. Paray I only survived unchanged for about 25 to 30 years.
It is unusual that the builders of this church did not create the angle between the nave and the transept at exactly 90 degrees. The sources do not provide any information on the causes. This obvious construction error was probably the reason for the later twisting of the plan of Paray III.
Paray II
The second church Paray II consisted of the structure of Paray I to which a westwork of a two-story narthex with a double tower facade was added. This westwork is still in a heavily restored form in front of the west wall of Paray III . (See description there) Paray II lasted about 40 to 60 years, together with Paray I 65 to 90 years.
Paray III
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Dimensions approx (each without pillar templates)
- Total length with narthex and apex chapel, outside: 53.50 m
- Length of the transept, outside: 41.50 m
- Width transept, outside: 9.80 m
- Transept overhang: 9.00 m
- Length of the nave, outside: 21.50 m
- Width of the nave, outside: 24.00 m
- Width of central nave, inside: 7.90 m
- Choir length with front yoke, inside: 14.20 m
- Aisle width, inside: 6.00 m
- Choir ambulatory width inside: 3.00 m
- Height of the crossing dome: 22.50 m
- Height of the crossing tower above the ground: 56.00 m
- Height of central nave: 22.00 m
- Vault height side aisles: 11.50 m
The third church, Paray III, is a completely late Romanesque new building in the style of Cluny III , except for the preserved early Romanesque westwork . Its east-west axis was rotated about three degrees counter-clockwise compared to that of the first church Paray I , the pivot point of which is roughly in the middle of the choir. It was probably intended to compensate for the construction error in the system of the right angle between the nave and the transept. In any case, the alignment of the new building with that of the old transept was taken over from the start.
Outward appearance
The exterior of the basilica is marked by extreme severity and sobriety. Also noticeable is the almost complete lack of architectural sculpture, both on the tympana and on the capitals of the inner pillars and columns.
Longhouse
The outer sight of the nave sides shows an unusually short figure, which is bordered in the east by a wide transept and in the west by the early Romanesque westwork. The nave should actually be significantly longer than just three bays. Nor can it have lost a few yokes, as is sometimes found, since the much older westwork bears witness to the fact that this church was never longer. From the sources we learn that the nave was originally planned to be almost twice as long and that the westwork would have had to be torn down. However, after three yokes had been built, construction work was stopped for reasons that were not known. The nave reached just as far as the westwork that had remained standing.
Accordingly, it stands on an almost square floor plan, an unusual area for such basilicas . It has a three-aisled basilica elevation with a windowed upper cade zone . This means strong height differences between the central nave and the side aisles. The central nave is covered by a 25 degree pitched roof, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format, also known as monk-nun tiles. The eaves consist of horizontal, projecting cornice panels with double-profiled visible edges, which are supported by simply carved cantilever consoles. The lower row of roof tiles protrudes slightly over the outer edges of the cornice and the rainwater can drip off freely. The monopitch roofs over the side aisles have the same roof pitch and eaves as on the central nave. However, the front sides of the cornice panels are unusually high.
The upper aisle zones of the central nave walls protrude above the roof, about twice as high as the height of the aisle. The side and central nave walls are divided into three bays by buttresses that are rectangular in plan. The pillars have steeply sloping upper sides, which on the ground floor end a good bit below the eaves and in the Obergade zone almost reach up to the eaves. On the ground floor, a slender, arched window with sharp-edged reveals is cut out in the center of each yoke; in the upper line zone there are three smaller, slender, arched windows just above the pent roof ridges. In the western head wall of the north aisle, the sloping top of which rises up just above the pent roof, there is a window just next to the narthex , like the one in the long walls of the aisles. The western end wall of the southern aisle is covered by the former convent building adjoining the narthex .
In the west gable wall of the central nave, four round-arched windows have been cut out above the narthex roof, a larger one at the top just below the inner vault and a little further below a row of three slightly smaller windows. In the western head walls of the side aisles, a circular window, a so-called ox eye, is cut out above the narthex roof .
Westwork
The early Romanesque westwork is not centered in front of the west wall of the nave and is clearly offset to the north. This results from the twisting of the floor plan of the late Romanesque new building compared to the older structure of the previous church. This twist is evidence that the planners of the new building originally intended to build the nave with five or six bays and to demolish the old westwork for this.
The two-storey 'narthex' stands on the ground floor on a rectangular floor plan made up of twelve pillars, which are connected to one another with semicircular arcades that enclose the floor area and divide it into six not quite square sections, which are covered by groin vaults . The six outer free-standing pillars have cross-shaped, sharp-edged cross-sections, the four pillars on the west wall of the nave have only three cross arms each. The arch approaches of these pillars are marked by simply profiled fighters.
The two inner pillars are columnar round pillars structured by four templates, which are similar to the so-called cantoned pillars of the Gothic, but rarely appear in the Romanesque. They have cross-sections of four three-quarter-round columns, which appear to be hidden in front of the round pillar cores. The cores can be seen between the pillars and are made of a different stone material. These granite cores were added to the pillars during a restoration in the 19th century. The old floor plan shows the original condition without the cores (see illustration). The four templates are in turn divided into three mostly smooth semicircular rods, which are sometimes seemingly tied together by braided ribbons at the top, bottom and also in the middle. Some of the bars are decorated with spirally twisted round profiles. The templates are completed at the top by finely carved capitals that are connected to each other. A joint, profiled transom plate covers the group of capital. The capitals of a pillar show lush foliage. The capitals of the other pillar show crouching naked men in the foliage and rearing lions that eat the tendrils of the foliage or that grow out of their mouths (?). The lower ends of the four columns stand on profiled bases , which are decorated with leaf fans and rosettes . They are also connected to one another. They stand on a common angular plinth that rests on a thicker base plate, the edges of which are beveled on the reverse.
- Gallery pillar in the narthex
People and lions
Crouching man
Leaf fan
Leaf fan
In the west wall of the nave, the main portal of the church opens in the middle section of the narthex . Lateral wall projections protrude into the upper corners of the rectangular portal opening with sharp-edged reveals, the corners of which are rounded, on which the lower edge of the tympanum rises without a separate architrave . A broad band of delicate structures made of plant-based leaves and tendrils with pine cones runs around all the reveal edges . There are only eight circular medallions lined up on the tympanum above this strip . The outer ones are filled with flower rosettes, the others with animal sculptures. The surface above is flat and not decorated. However, it may have been painted, as indicated by the remains of paint on the surface and in the sculptures. The tympanum is covered by an arch made of half a round rod, which is decorated with a multiple scroll frieze . This stands on slim pillars. Which are completely covered by a wickerwork of crossed ribbons. The columns are equipped with plant-based and figurative carved capitals, multi-tiered transom profiles, profiled bases and angular plinths. The latter are lined with angular plinths that extend over all four levels of the walls. The archivolt follows a little further outwards in a next wall offset, a half round rod, which extends from the plinths over the entire portal height and around the entire arch without interruption. It is clad in a wickerwork of zigzag ribbons. Another wall setback is only followed by a slender pilaster on the portal sides, the front of which is decorated with an elegant wickerwork.
The second floor of the narthex is significantly higher than the first. It has a similar floor plan to that of the first floor, but the two inner cantoned pillars are replaced by pillars with a cross-shaped cross-section with simply profiled spars at the arches. Instead of the six groin vaults, there are barrel vaults that are aligned with the longitudinal axis of the previous church. The approaches of their arcade arches are level with the apex of the arcades in the partition walls. The outer cross arms of the pillars on the first floor continue to rise above the free outer walls of the first floor, with the same cross-section, where they are tapered to slightly slimmer cross-sections at about the height of the barrel vault and rise even further. The wall surfaces between the buttresses are broken up by arched windows with flared walls. The largest and slimmest is in the middle of the west side, its arch apex about at the height of the reduction of the buttresses. The smaller windows in the outer wall sections are left much deeper. Such windows are located at the same height in the two wall sections on the north wall. The south wall is covered on both floors by the former convent buildings attached there. In the west wall of the central nave, in the middle area of the narthex, a large round-arched window opens into the interior of the nave.
The upper floor of the narthex is covered with a shared gable roof between and behind the towers, with the same pitch as that of the central nave. On the front between the towers you can see the middle section of the verges of this roof, which are covered with strong cornice panels profiled on the visible side and supported by cantilever consoles. On the top of the gable stands the sculpture of an eight-petalled rose flower, which is held together by a circular ring. The eaves of this gable roof between the towers and the west wall of the nave are designed similarly to those of the nave.
The two slender three-storey towers of the westwork begin above the gable roof of the narthex . They have an almost square floor plan, which corresponds to the partial areas in the northwest and southwest corner of the narthex floor plan. The towers are designed slightly differently in terms of their windows and their plastic decoration. The south tower seems to have been equipped a little more cautiously. The lower floors of the towers are significantly higher than the floors above, the top floor is a little less high. The storeys are separated from each other by cantilever profiles; the north tower uses slightly wider stepped profiles.
The sloping upper sides of the buttresses that extend from the ground floor to the lower tower storey, with a one-off downgrade, reach just below the first cantilever profile on the south tower, while they remain a good bit below that on the north tower.
All windows and arcades are arched, but those of the south tower are much smaller. than that of the north tower. All sides of the storeys are windowed through in the same way.
In the south tower there is a centered window on the lower floor with sharp-edged reveals and without any decoration. On the floor above, directly on the floor-dividing cantilever profile, there is a twin window, each of which has arches and external reveal edges that are set back. Their outer arch approaches are marked by fighters. Both arches stand together on columns arranged one behind the other, which are equipped with simply carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases. The same twin window follows on the top floor. The storey is closed off by a simply profiled cantilever cornice.
In the north tower there is already a twin window on the lower floor, the openings of which are slightly smaller than those on the floors above. Two blind arcades flush with the wall with sharp arched edges stand on pillars with capitals carved from plants, profiled fighters and bases. The middle column is twisted in a spiral. The outer columns are set back from the wall. The actual somewhat receding window openings are somewhat smaller than the blinds and have sharp reveal edges. On the middle floor, semicircular columns are hidden in front of the beveled tower edges. The same pillars stand in the middle of the tower walls. Immediately next to these there is a larger blind arcade on both sides, the stilted arch of which stands on pillars, which is equipped with vegetable carved capitals, profiled warriors and bases. The transom profiles are decorated with a kind of roller frieze and are led up to the half-columns on both sides. The pillars are set backwards from the wall. The arches flush with the wall are set back by a second arch, which also rests on the same capitals and spars. Only then do the somewhat smaller window openings with sharp reveal edges follow. On the top floor you can find the same half-columns on the tower edges and in the middle between them, however, they are crowned by capitals carved from plants. The windows are designed similarly. Instead of three high arches, there are only two significantly flatter ones. The fighter profile is decorated with winding tendrils and is also led around the semicircular columns. Six-part arched friezes are fitted between the capitals, which together with the capitals support the multi-level cantilever cornice that closes the storey.
Both towers each have a wooden helmet in the form of pyramids with steeply sloping sides, which are covered with gray slate shingles. Their roofs are crowned by metal tips tapering upwards in a rod, closed by a ball.
The towers probably had stone spiers until the 19th century, with dormer-like attachments over the eaves, as drawn by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814–1879). (see grafic)
Transept with crossing tower and chapels
Due to the shortness of the nave and the approximately nine meters wide transept arms, the transept appears massive and almost disproportionately large. Its eaves heights are taken over from those of the central nave. The transept arms are covered with gable roofs, in inclination, roofing and eaves formation like those of the central nave. Only the height of their roofs is slightly lower due to the smaller transept width. The sloping tops of the gable walls run parallel to the roof surfaces, which they protrude slightly. They are covered by cantilevered stone slabs, the visible edges of which are profiled several times. There are two buttresses on each corner of the component, those on the east and west walls almost reach under the eaves, those on the gable walls remain well below. In the extension of the side aisle walls, buttresses also rise up, which reach just below the eaves. At the height of the roof of the side aisles, a wide cantilevered cornice runs around the entire arms of the transept, over all buttresses. The buttresses on the component corners taper above this profile. In the wall sections above the side aisles, three round-arched windows with sharp-edged soffits are recessed, which stand directly on the aforementioned cantilever profile. Slender pillars protrude from between the windows. Beyond the buttresses, the three groups of windows and pillars are repeated again. The six windows are equidistant from one another. In the south arm of the transept there are only the first three windows. In the gables of the transept arms there is a group of three of the same windows on the cantilever cornices. In the middle of each of the gable fields above there is a larger window.
In the north arm of the transept, a magnificent side portal has been created that is significantly larger than the main portal in the narthex . The portal opening measures a good 3 by 4.5 meters. The upper corners are again equipped with brackets protruding into the opening. The edge of the portal opening is accompanied by three flat bands with fine structures. The middle band is a multi-part scroll frieze, the inner one shows leaf fans. The portal opening is generously enclosed by a significantly larger archivolt, which stands next to a wall offset on all sides. The arch consists of a strong round rod that is dissolved into a network of propeller-like rosettes. This is accompanied on both sides by narrow pearl rods. The arch stands on slender pillars, the right one is decorated with the same ornament as the arch, only a little more delicate. The left column is carved with a wickerwork of slender ribbons. Both are equipped with vegetable carved capitals, fighters with roller friezes and profiled bases that stand on a meter high, sharp-edged wall plinths. The narrow wall sections between the pillars and the three bands and the tympanum remain without structures. The tympanum may have been painted, as were the other sculptural ornaments. The archivolt is enclosed on three sides above the high pedestal by broad bands of lined up circular medallions, which are filled with five-petalled flower rosettes. These are accompanied on both sides by small, lined up rectangular depressions. The two gussets between the bow and the ribbons are again unstructured. The rectangle formed by the medallion bands is enclosed on all sides, on both sides by slightly protruding, almost equally wide, triple fluted pilasters , which are equipped with vegetable carved capitals, with roller friezes, profiled capitals and double profiled bases on high wall plinths. The pilasters carry an eleven-part arched frieze, the visible edges of which are broken into covings . This is closed on the top by a low profile.
The two wooden door wings of the portal show decorative work of the blacksmith's craft . Each door leaf is equipped with three equal-armed crosses made of straight iron rails, the ends of which are flanged on both sides. The ends of the cross arms are enclosed by rails bent in the shape of a horseshoe, the ends of which are flanged as above. Such horseshoe-like structures are inserted again between the crosses. These enclose short horizontal pieces of rail with the known flanges. Such rail pieces are inserted into the spaces that remain free.
A transept chapel emerges from the east walls of the nave arms immediately next to the side aisles of the choir bay, in the north arm the original Romanesque chapel, in the south a chapel that was probably changed in the new style in the Gothic era.
The walls of the northern chapel are on a semicircular floor plan. They are covered by half a conical roof , the inclination of which is 25 degrees and which is about as high as the roofs of the wreath chapels of the ambulatory . It is covered with red hollow bricks, like the roofs of the ships. However, there are tiles specially made for small conical roofs that taper in length . The eaves formation roughly corresponds to that of the ships. Two buttresses divide the free walls into three sections each. Their steeply sloping tops reach almost a meter below the eaves. The pillar cross-sections are right-angled for a short distance below the sloping tops. Among them are strong (or old) ministries equipped with vegetable carved capitals, fighters whose edges are decorated with double roller profiles, and simply profiled bases. They stand on angular plinths and protruding plinths with a beveled top, a good 60 centimeters high, which also extend over the walls of the church. Round-arched windows with sharp reveal edges are recessed between the buttresses . Your wedge arches are covered by a cantilever profile, which is decorated with a simple roller frieze and is led up to the buttresses at the height of the fighters. This profile is led around the entire Romanesque choir head and over the wedge-shaped arches of all windows at the same height.
The southern transept chapel stands on an almost square floor plan, which corresponds to the adjacent aisle of the choir bay and which, however, extends to the east by the apse in the form of a half hexagon. The roof consists of a steeply inclined gable roof, to which a roof in the form of a half hexagonal pyramid is attached. The roofs are covered with red tile shingles. The eaves consist of a simply profiled cantilever cornice over which the lower row of the shingles protrudes slightly. From the two eastern corners of the apse protrude, in cross-section, wide rectangular buttresses, the steeply sloping tops of which are covered with cantilevered panels. A clearly projecting cantilever profile surrounds the apse at a height of around 2.5 meters. In the three free wall surfaces of the apse there are unusually sharply pointed pointed arched windows, the apex of which is about the height of the pillar ends. The Gothic tracery in the arched areas of the windows is extremely delicate. The south wall of the chapel is covered by extensions of convent buildings.
The crossing tower is a work of the 19th century. Until then, there was a Gothic tower, but it is not known whether it had a Romanesque predecessor. In any case, the new building of the church was not completed until the Gothic had already established itself in France. Obviously the tower was not authentic enough for the conservators of the 19th century and they therefore replaced it with a new Romanesque reconstruction .
From the roofs of the ships and the choir bay, a tower base, which is closed on all sides, emerges, which stands on the walls of the not quite square crossing and which soon merges into the octagonal floor plan of the tower. The resulting four triangles of the square base part are covered with slightly inclined half pyramid roofs that are covered with red tile shingles. The octagonal part of the base ends with a slightly protruding profile.
The tower consists of two floors above the base. The upper one is slightly higher than the lower one. On each side of the lower storey there is a round arched twin blind arcade made of archivolts . Their arches consist of smooth round bars that are covered by a narrow profile. They stand on pillars that are united in the middle to form pairs of pillars. The columns are equipped with capitals carved from plants, profiled warriors and bases on angular plinths. The upper half of the fighter profile extends over the tower corners. The blind arcades enclose closed wall fields, each with a smaller round arched niche. A short distance above the apex of the blind arcades, the floor is closed by a double cantilever profile.
On the floor above, there are open twin arcades made of archivolts, which are similar in size and design to the blind arcades below. The round bars of the arches are accompanied on the inside by narrow profiles. They unite in the middle and stand together on just one column. The columns are equipped like the lower ones, their capitals are simply carved. Instead of the niches in the archivolts, round-arched, sharp-edged openings are cut out, the sound arcades of the bell tower. The double transom profiles extend over the tower corners and into the reveals of the openings. The wall sections above the apex of the blind arcades is slightly higher than on the lower floor. The storey is closed off by a cantilevered, profiled cornice, which is supported by angular cantilever brackets flush with the surface. On each side of the tower there is a small rectangular opening under two consoles, which may be used to insert scaffolding beams in the event of necessary repair work on the tower helmet.
The octagonal wooden spire has steeply sloping sides, which are more appropriate to a Gothic helmet. The side surfaces are slightly widened outwards over the eaves. The helmet is covered with small-format, medium-gray slate shingles. The ridge of the tower is pointed even further by a metal attachment, which is crowned by a delicately forged cross. The upper cross arm extends into a needle-shaped point on which a small weather vane indicates the wind direction.
Choir head with chapel wreath
The head of the choir is graduated six times in height, starting with the apses of the wreath chapels, over the yokes of the chapels, the ambulatory, the side aisles the choir yoke, the choir apse to the central nave of the choir yoke. This results in an impressive staggering of the building mass in the exterior view of the east building of the church.
Immediately in front of the east wall of the transept stands the choir bay with an elevation that almost corresponds to that of the nave, consisting of a central nave and the two side aisles, with the corresponding roof shapes, eaves and roofing. Only in the south aisle is the pent roof turned by 90 degrees, with the eaves on the east side and the ridge on the south arm of the transept. This is probably due to the later reconstruction and expansion of the southern transept chapel in the Gothic style. The roofs of the central nave and the north aisle of the choir bay are slightly overlooked by their eastern gable walls, which are covered with cantilevered panels with profiled visible edges, which are supported by cantilevered consoles. From the former gable wall of the south aisle, only one more projection of the buttress of the central nave is left above the newly created eaves. The component corners of the central nave of the choir bay are stiffened by buttresses arranged around the corner, which extend below the aforementioned cover plates. In the gable wall of the central nave, above the adjoining roof of the choir apse, a small round-arched window is cut out in the middle, a little deeper and further outwards a circular ox-eye, which is enclosed by an arched frieze. In the side walls of the central nave of the Chorjoch there is again a group of three windows with pillars in between, as we know them from the east walls of the transept arms. The corner of the north aisle of the Chorjoch has a not very protruding buttress towards the north. In the north wall, between the buttresses and the transept chapel on the ground floor, a round arched window is cut out, somewhat larger and higher than the windows of the neighboring chapel. There is another, but smaller, window in this wall above the chapel roof. The south aisle of the Chorjoch has an arched window in its east wall on the ground floor, just next to the outer wall of the gallery.
The choir apse stands on a floor plan made up of a narrow rectangle and a semicircle. The outer walls are an extension of the crossing walls. The roof consists of a narrow piece of gable roof inclined at a good thirty degrees, which is followed by half a conical roof. The simply profiled eaves cornice of the apse is supported by a circumferential arched frieze, the visible edges of which are broken with covings. The roof is covered with red tile shingles, the lower row of which protrudes slightly over the cornice. In the semicircular wall section of the apse, directly above the ridge of the pent roof above the ambulatory, a total of seven arched windows are cut out, which stand exactly above the inner arcades of the choir apse. The windows are framed by blind arcades, the arches of which are made of round bars, in which a deep groove is embedded on the outside, in which cylindrical structures with circular flat visible sides and spaced from each other are lined up. The arches meet one another on fluted pilasters, which are equipped with angular, vegetable carved capitals, profiled fighters, bases and plinths.
The ambulatory surrounds the choir apse in the same shape and width. It stands on an outline made up of a narrow rectangle and a semicircle. The ridge of its flat sloping pent roof lies just below the parapets of the choir apse window. The roof surfaces are covered with hollow tiles in Roman format. The eaves are designed similar to those of the ships
The surrounding wall is divided horizontally into two storeys and vertically into a total of nine almost equally wide sections. The two outer sections are at right angles to the east wall of the choir bay and are completely closed. The sections following the semicircle are subdivided by buttresses with a right-angled cross-section that extend below the eaves. The outer sides of the pillars stand in a theoretical semicircular curved plane that begins and ends flush with the surface of the first wall sections. The fields between the pillars and the first sections recede by the depth of the pillars. They are not curved themselves, but rather bend one below the other invisibly from the outside in the pillar area and thus follow the entire curve. This can be seen from the outside by the eaves cornices running straight between the pillars, which also bend in the pillar area. In the middle between the pillars there is a smaller round arched window with sharp reveal edges. On the lower floor, quite large, arched windows are left in the wall sections between the radial chapels and next to the outer chapels.
The three radial chapels also emerge in the basement, each slightly wider than the wall sections of the corridor with two pillars. The chapels stand on a ground plan, which is composed of a slight rectangle of the chapel yoke and the semicircle of the chapel apse. The chapel yoke is covered by a gently sloping gable roof and the apse is covered by a slightly lower half conical roof. The roofs are covered with hollow tiles as on the ships and the northern transept chapel and have the same eaves design. The verges of the outer chapels are designed similar to the eaves. The roof surfaces of the apex chapel are slightly surmounted by a gable wall at the same incline, which is covered with cantilevered stone slabs and supported by cantilever consoles. This makes a piece of the gable wall visible and makes the apex chapel appear larger.
On the top of the gable is a stone sculpture of a four-petalled rose flower, the leaves of which are held together by a large circular ring. Another rosette is located in a small circular ring in the middle of the lanceolate petals. Small circular medallions are inserted in the spaces between the petals.
The apex of the arched windows in the side walls of the chapel bays are just below the height of the apex of the significantly larger gallery windows. The diameter of the apse is slightly smaller than the width of the chapel bays. The semicircular apse walls are divided into three equally wide wall sections by two buttresses. They resemble those in the northern transept chapel. The three windows are also similar to those of this chapel. However, they are arranged much lower than the windows of the chapel bays. The wedge stone arches of all windows on the ground floor of the choir head and the chapels are covered by a profile with a simple roller frieze, which is continued horizontally over the walls and pillar capitals at the height of the arches. If the window apex is offset in height, the profile follows them.
On the walls of the sections between and to the side of the outer chapels, the eaves of the chapel bays are extended below each other with narrow "roofs" or outwards, from the eaves cornice panels on cantilever consoles and one or two rows of hollow tiles.
Convent building
On the south side of the church are the convent buildings, which were extensively renovated and renewed in the 18th century. The cloister, covered with groin vaults, encompasses a garden and is enclosed on all sides by two-storey wings. The south wing now houses a museum, while the west wing, which adjoins the west wing, houses a lyceum.
- Gallery convent building
Cloister from the south gallery
Cloister, west gallery
Cloister, west and north wings
West wing, Lyceum
Interior
The interior of the church impresses with its current state of renovation, which transmits a luminous brightness. All walls and vaults present pure white backgrounds, from which the architectural design elements such as opening frames, arches, pillars, services, wall templates, cornices and other beige colors stand out, the joints of which are lightly tinted.
Longhouse
The nave stands on an almost square floor plan, has a basilica, three-story elevation with a windowed upper aisle zone and is divided into three naves and only three bays. The aisles are only a good 1.5 meters narrower than the central nave. At 22 meters, the central nave is almost three times as high as it is wide (7.90 m) and almost twice as high as the aisle vault (11.50 m).
The naves are divided by strong partitions that merge into the Obergade zone above the aisle roofs. They stand on arcades with pointed arches, the edges of which are set back on both sides. The outer arch edge on the central nave side is dissolved into a flat hollow, which is decorated with a series of almond-shaped ornaments.
The partition arches stand on pillars, the cores of which have cruciform cross-sections. The inner arches stand on old semicircular services, each facing a cross arm of the pillars. These are equipped with mostly vegetable-carved capitals, stepped transom profiles, profiled bases and high angular plinths. These stand on flatter protruding consoles that are led around the entire pillar. The transom profiles are led around the entire pillar higher than the arches
On each of the cross arms on the center aisle, a fluted pilaster is faded in, which is equipped with corresponding vegetable carved capitals, fighters and bases. Above the capitals, the cross arms are continued as narrower wall pillars, which are accompanied on both sides by columns: The wall pillars are again placed in front of pilasters, with the same cross-section as the ones below. Pilasters and columns are equipped, as are the lower pilasters. The two-stage fighter profile is at the height of the apex and is guided over the partition of the entire yoke. The gussets next to these are plastered white.
The two upper floors are divided by sharp-edged wall pillars that correspond to the lower cross arms. With the old services that have been faded in, they extend up to the vaults: the services are equipped like those under the arches of the partition. The two upper floors are divided roughly in half horizontally by a profiled cantilever cornice supported by simply carved cantilever consoles. The cantilever profile is guided around the wall pillars and services in a less protruding manner. The middle floor is divided into three sections by two pilasters each, which are equipped like the others. The outer sections are closed on the outside by narrow wall pillars. In each of these sections a round arched blind arcade is inserted, the border of which is designed with a wide hollow. In the middle section there is an arcade that opens into the roof space above the side aisles, with the same border as the blind arcades. On the upper floor, the entire width of the yoke is filled by a triple-blind arcade, the arches of which are made of round bars on two pillars and two twin pillars, which are equipped similar to the pilasters. In the fields of the arcades, somewhat smaller round-arched windows with sharp reveal edges have been cut out. The upper storey is closed off by a narrower cantilever profile at the height of the vaults, which is led around the wall pillars and capitals. On these yoke-dividing wall pillars and services stand strong belt arches, with sharp-edged setbacks on both sides of the edges, which together with the outer walls support the slightly pointed barrel vaults of the central nave.
The aisles are divided into yokes by pointed girders similar to those of the central nave. On the outer walls there are pillars with services that correspond to those of the pillar arms opposite. The belt arches stand on the old services, which are equipped like the services of the partition arcades and are of the same height. The yokes of the aisles are covered by groin vaults, the ridges of which reach down to the spiers of the pillars and wall pillars.
The western gable wall takes over the design of the two upper floors of a yoke at the same height. The corners of the yoke-dividing wall templates are inserted in the component corners of these floors, which are supported in the area of the arcade arches of the partition walls by the same pillars as those above the pillars. The edge of an arch begins at the level of the arch extensions and corresponds to that of the next belt arch. In the middle of the arch of the gable wall is a round arched window, the walls of which are widened inwards. At about the level of the arcade arches, offset from the center to the right, there is a round arched window opening to the upper floor of the narthex , which is surrounded by a blind arcade set back. Its wedge arch rests on columns with capitals, fighters and bases that are set back from the wall. The parapet is beveled inwards.
The main portal of the church is located exactly under the window, but it is covered by a wooden vestibule.
The arcades of the naves to the crossing and to the transept arms do not differ from those of the arcades dividing the yoke.
Transept with crossing and transept chapels
The transept has very similar design features to those of the central nave, which it has adopted largely unchanged. The elongated floor plan of the transept arms is divided into three sections, two in the width of the aisles and a narrow remaining section. The vault height and the height division of the storeys correspond to those of the central nave. The subdivisions are taken over by arcades from semicircular old services in full height of the wall, which are directly in front of the walls, on whose capitals the belt arches support the slightly pointed barrel vaults. The design of the upper two floors of the two larger sections corresponds exactly to that of the central nave. In the east wall of the southern arm of the transept, two windows had to be closed above the Gothic transept chapel, as they are covered by the chapel on the outside. The upper area of the transept gable wall almost corresponds to that of the western central nave gable wall. In the two corners of the room, corners of the wall template are set in full wall height, but they are not continued in the vault area. In the center of the northern gable wall is the side portal, which is covered by a wooden vestibule. The arcades to the side aisles, also to those of the choir bay, correspond to the yoke dividing the side aisles. The arches of the latter have covings on the outer edges to the transept, as in the arcade arches of the partition walls.
Round-arched arcades open to the transept chapels, the arched edges of which are set back and their apices are just above the heights of the capitals of the naves. Their arch approaches are marked by fighter profiles.
The northern chapel is still the original and has a semicircle plan. A cantilever profile closes off the rounded walls at the height of the above-mentioned transom and the vault of half a dome begins above. A four-part blind arching stands on an approximately 70 centimeter high base with profiled cover plates. Its arches are round bars, which are provided on their visible side with a groove into which a row of circular tablets is embedded. They stand on five pillars with vegetable carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases, on plinths. In the three outer blind arcades, significantly smaller, arched windows have been cut out, with flared walls.
The southern chapel is no longer the original. It was rebuilt and expanded in the Gothic era. Its floor plan is almost a square, which is followed by half a hexagon. It is covered by a Gothic ribbed vault made up of two rectangles with twelve segments and a half-hexagon with eight segments. The upper area of the three high, ogival windows show artfully designed Gothic tracery.
The not quite square crossing opens all around with almost the same arcades as the last arcade of the nave. The arcade to the choir, the so-called triumphal arch, is identical. The only difference on the ground floor is that the arcades to the transept arms do not have pilasters in front of them, but rather semicircular old services. The outer edges of all arcade arches are equipped with the same fillets as the arcade arches of the partition walls. Not far above the apex of the crossing arcades is the outline of the crossing dome in the shape of an octagon with long and short sides alternating. The short sides can be found in the corners of the crossing square above small fan-shaped trumpets. The dome arches evenly without any noticeable ridges emanating from the corners. A circular opening is cut out in the top of the dome, which is intended to be used for vertical transport of bells, tools and materials.
- Gallery transept
North. Transept arm, gable wall
North. Transept chapel
Central nave u. Crossing from choir
Vault choir u. Crossing
Choir head with ambulatory and chapel wreath
The choir yoke with its aisles connects to the eastern transept wall and has the same layout and elevation as a yoke of the nave. In the east walls of the aisles, an arcade almost half as narrow opens into the ambulatory. Its semicircular arch shows sharp-edged setbacks and stands on semicircular old services with carved capitals, profiled capitals, bases and angular plinths. In the south aisle, a slender, arched window is cut out in the same wall. In its south wall, a high-level window of this type is closed on the outside by the addition of the Gothic chapel. This window is in the north wall of the north aisle.
The arcade to the two-storey choir apse extends with its arches up to the height of the cantilever profile with cantilever brackets that separates the two upper floors of the choir bay. Its sharpened arch with two-sided setbacks stands on wall templates of the same width, which are raised from the choir-side arms of the pillar cores and to which semicircular old services are shown with the equipment known from the transept. In the gable wall area above this arcade there is a small arched window high below the crown of the vault and a small circular ox eye a little further down on the edge of the vault.
The choir apse stands on a floor plan made up of a narrow rectangle and a semicircle. It is surrounded by a wreath of a total of nine slender arcades, the sharp-edged wedge arches of which two stand together on unusually slender pillars. They are equipped with predominantly vegetable, partly figuratively carved capitals, wide-spreading profiled fighters, profiled bases and plinths. They stand together on a plinth around the apse.
The last arches stand on semicircular posts on the arms of the cross-shaped pillar cores, with the familiar equipment. The wedge stone arches are covered by a projecting cantilever profile, the visible edges of which are broken with the same profile as those of the outer edges of the arcade arches of the partition walls. The fighters of the apse arcades are exactly at the level of the fighters of the side arcades of the choir bay. The cantilever profile, which closes off the ground floor of the choir bay, also runs around the entire choir apse, but is supported there by an arched frieze, the visible edges of which are broken with covings.
The second floor is enclosed on the cantilever profile by a row of a total of nine round-arched windows with sharp-edged reveals. The wedge stone arches of the windows are covered by arches, the bevelled edges of which are decorated by a multiple scroll frieze. The arches stand, two together, on pairs of pillars, the outer ones on individual pillars, which are all equipped with carved capitals, profiled warriors and bases on angular plinths. The upper floor of the choir apse ends just above the apse with the transom profile of the large apse between the choir bay and the apse. Above that, the vault of the choir apse begins from a short piece of barrel, to which a half-dome is connected. The vault is painted with a multicolored fresco depicting the enthroned Christ in a slightly angular mandorla , which is accompanied on the outside by the winged evangelist symbols .
The relatively narrow ambulatory (the ambulatory) encloses the entire choir apse. It is divided by eight belt arches into two rectangular and seven tapered sections, which are covered by groin vaults. The belt arches stand on the one hand on the pillars of the apse arcades, on the other hand on pairs of pillars that are blinded to the outer wall and stand on cantilever consoles between the outer blind arcades. They are equipped with capitals carved from plants, simply profiled fighters and bases on plinths. The height of the transom corresponds to that of the apse arcades. The fighter profile is led around the entire surrounding wall of the gallery. Nine round arched blind arcades are presented to this wall on the ground floor, the arches of which consist of cantilever profiles, the sloping visible edges of which are decorated with a multiple roller frieze. They stand on fluted pilasters that are well-known from the others. Three of the arcades barely enclose the openings to the wreath chapels. The arcades between and to the side of the outer chapels contain relatively large arched windows. Their sharp-edged wedge stone arches stand on pillars set back from the wall and are equipped as usual. Your fighters are taken over by the fighters of the blind arcades. Their parapets are steeply sloping. The arcades on the very outside contain smooth wall surfaces.
The three radial or wreath chapels each stand on the ground plan of a rectangle, which is followed by a semicircle. The apex chapel faces east, the other two chapels face northeast and southeast. The chapel yoke is covered by a barrel vault, the chapel apse is covered by half a dome, which is separated from one another by an arcade, made of a sharp-edged semicircular arch, which stands on pilasters fluted on all sides, which are equipped with figuratively carved capitals and profiled bases on plinths. The pilasters stand on protruding wall brackets that run around the entire wall of the chapel. The wall and dome of the apse are separated by a simple cantilever profile. A round-arched window with sharp-edged reveals is recessed in each of the side walls of the chapel bays. It is significantly smaller than the handling window. The three windows in the apse are about the same size, but they are arranged much lower and their parapets are steeply sloping. The apex of their wedge arches almost touch the profile of the rim of the calotte. Their robes are slightly widened. At the edges of the wall, set back from the wall, there are pillars, which are equipped with figuratively sculpted fighters, profiled fighters and bases, and which carry wedge-shaped arches.
Capital sculpture
Most of the capitals in the church are carved with vegetable motifs, often delicate and profound. Often there is acanthus leaves . There are also three capitals with figurative historical motifs, which are mostly difficult to interpret.
Animal motifs can be found on some capitals, for example:
Two eagle capitals: the eagle stood for the image of the soul that rises above worldly risks. The eagle was the sun bird or the king of birds. The apostle John has been identified with the eagle of the Apocalypse .
Seven lion capitals: the lion symbolizes royal power, power and honor in the material world. It is associated with the sun in astrology in Romanesque symbolism. The lion was the spiritual equivalent of worldly power. The evangelist Mark has been identified as the lion of the Apocalypse. Sometimes Jesus was called the Lion of Judah .
Three griffin capitals: The griffin is certainly of Persian origin. He is depicted as a lion with the head of an eagle and connected the spiritual soul (eagle) with material strength (lion). He connected heaven to earth.
- Gallery capital sculpture
Lions
Eagle
Wrestling people
Capital with bearded sirens
Vegetable sculpture
Vegetable sculpture
Vegetable sculpture
Vegetable sculpture
literature
Overview works
- Thorsten Droste : Burgundy. Monasteries, castles, historic cities and the culture of viticulture in the heart of France. 3rd updated edition. DuMont Reiseverlag, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-7701-4166-0 .
- Rolf Tomann (Ed.): Burgundy. Architecture, art, landscape. Text by Ulrike Laule. Photographs by Achim Bednorz. Könemann, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-8290-2707-9 .
Scientific literature
- Jean-Noël Barnoud, Nicolas Reveyron, Gilles Rollier: Paray-le-Monial. Zodiaque, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-7369-0310-2 (in French; well-illustrated architectural history).
- Matthias Hamann : The Burgundian priory church of Anzy-le-Duc and the Romanesque sculpture in Brionnais. 2 volumes. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag, Würzburg 1998, ISBN 3-9806424-5-3 (Würzburg, University, dissertation, 1998).
- Jens Reiche: Architecture and architectural sculpture in Burgundy around 1100. The churches of Gourdon and Mont-Saint-Vincent (= studies on international architecture and art history. Vol. 12). Imhof, Petersberg 1999, ISBN 3-935590-07-5 (At the same time: Bonn, Universität, Dissertation, 1999).
- Hermann Wirth: New findings on the building history of the priory church of Paray-le-Monial . In: Report on the 41st Conference on Excavation Science and Building Research. From May 31 to June 4, 2000 in Berlin. Habelt, Bonn 2002, ISBN 3-7749-3127-5 , pp. 74-84.
Web links
- Basilique de Paray-le-Monial in the French language Wikipedia
- structurae.de Dimensions and pictures
- Sacré-Cœur (Paray-le-Monial). In: arch INFORM .
- kathedralen.net pictures and text (de)
- art-roman.net pictures
- route-romane.net pictures
Coordinates: 46 ° 26 ′ 59 ″ N , 4 ° 7 ′ 18 ″ E