Saint Martin d'Ainay basilica
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The Saint-Martin d'Ainay Basilica is a former abbey church in the Ainay district of Lyon , France . The church of the Archdiocese of Lyon is dedicated to Martin of Tours . The Romanesque church from the 12th century was added to the list of Monument historique in 1840 and raised to the rank of basilica in 1905 . With its location on the Lyon peninsula , it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site .
history
A Benedictine priory was founded on the Lyon peninsula in 859 . Unsecured, the location is traced back to the discovery of the remains of the martyrs of Lyon or the founding of the church of St. Martin the Hermit Badulphe, which is represented in a vaulted mosaic. The priory was later elevated to the rank of abbey and expanded. The abbey church was built at the end of the 11th century on the initiative of Abbot Gaucerand and consecrated on January 29, 1107 under the name of St. Martin by Pope Paschal II (1099–1118). It is one of the few Romanesque churches that have been preserved in Lyon.
During the reign of Louis IX. At the time of the first council of Lyon , which was convened by Pope Innocent IV to excommunicate Emperor Frederick II , the primacy of the abbey over 71 churches, abbeys and priories from Burgundy to Provence was recognized. Ainay Abbey was one of the most powerful in the Kingdom of France in the 13th century.
Jean II. De la Palud, abbot between 1313 and 1324, built a palace in the monastery.
During the Renaissance, the monastery had a port, the abbot lived in the palace and the monks had important buildings with a cloister, garden and vineyard. The monastic life was relaxed: the abbot was now appointed by the king to commendate abbot , which affected the spiritual life. From this time on, land was sold, on which new districts were built.
In 1562, during the Huguenot Wars, François de Beaumont's troops destroyed part of the buildings: the cloister was laid down, the church was devastated and the archives were burned. In 1600 Henry IV stayed in the abbey on the occasion of his marriage to Maria de Medici , which took place in the cathedral of Lyon .
Camille de Neufville de Villeroy was appointed abbot commander at the age of twelve. Villeroy, who was appointed Archbishop of Lyon in 1653 , secularized the abbey in 1685.
Parish Church and Basilica
When the monastery was dissolved, the church and the other buildings were entrusted to a secular chapter in 1685. Between 1723 and 1769, the chapter decided to subdivide the area around the lease yard in order to develop the land. The church lost the title of Abbey Church on January 27, 1780 and became a parish church.
During the French Revolution, the monastery was confiscated and the abbot's palace demolished. The church became a granary, which prevented its destruction. It was reopened to the faithful in 1802. It was classified as a historical monument in 1844 and restored in the neo-Romanesque style in the 19th century . The architects Pollet and Benoît restored in a “pure Romanesque” spirit, destroyed remains of the cloister and extended the church with side chapels.
Medieval mosaics discovered in the Sainte Blandine chapel during the work of 1844/1845 aroused no interest and were destroyed. Another mosaic was excavated near the main altar in 1851. It depicts a clergyman presenting a model of the Church. It is the only medieval mosaic discovered in Lyon in the 19th century and that has been partially restored, a first time between 1852 and 1855, then again in 1934.
The church was raised to the rank of minor basilica on June 13, 1905 by Pope Pius X.
architecture
All architectural styles can be found in the basilica of Ainay: pre-Romanesque in the Sainte-Blandine chapel, Romanesque in its entire main structure, the Saint-Michel chapel is Gothic , the church was extensively restored in the 19th century and expanded with neo-Romanesque additions.
The nave is 17 meters wide and the building is 37 meters long. The four monolithic columns that support the dome in front of the choir are made of gray Upper Egyptian granite from Syene and were recovered from the ruins of a Roman monument and cut into two parts: the north-east pillar joins over the south-west pillar, and the south-east pillar could be placed on the Northwest pillars are set.
The entrance is formed by a bell tower vestibule that culminates at a height of 31 meters. The tower base is built with stones from ancient monuments and dates from the 11th century. The door and the pointed vault date from the end of the 11th century. The tympanum was made by Joseph-Hugues Fabisch in 1860.
literature
- L'abbaye d'Ainay: legend & history. Exhibition catalog. Musée historique de Lyon, 1997.
- La Basilique Saint Martin d'Ainay. Les Amis de Saint Martin d'Ainay, Lyon (no year)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saint-Martin Basilica in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ^ Basilique Saint-Martin d'Ainay on gcatholic.org
- ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
- ↑ L'abbaye d'Ainay, des origines au XIIe siècle: actes du colloque tenu à l'Université catholique, 26-27 January 2007. p. 6.
- ^ Maria-Anne Privat-Savigny (dir.): Lyon, Musée Gadagne et Somogy Éditions d'art, 2012, 319, p. 34.
- ^ Anne-Catherine Le Mer, Claire Chomer: Carte archéologique de la Gaule, Lyon 69/2. Paris 2007, p. 406.
Coordinates: 45 ° 45 ′ 13.4 " N , 4 ° 49 ′ 38.1" E