St-Martin de Fenollar

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The pre-Romanesque Chapelle Saint-Martin de Fenollar is located not far from the town of Maureillas-las-Illas in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the southern French region of Occitania in the Roussillon cultural landscape that was formerly part of Catalonia . It is one of the few church buildings in the south of France where influences or after-effects from Visigothic architecture are suspected.

Saint-Martin de Fenollar chapel

location

The small church is located near the Roman Via Domitia only a few kilometers from the border with Spain ( Catalonia ) and about 500 meters northeast of the center of Maureillas-las-Illas .

Building history

A church at this point is documented as early as 844; at that time the property belonged to the monastery of Arles-sur-Tech . However, it is extremely unlikely that the church mentioned in the document is the current building, which is generally dated to the 10th century - sometimes even a little later. Nothing is known about the client (s) and thus about the original use of the structure.

architecture

Triumphal arch and choir. The arch is slightly indented at the lower end ( horseshoe arch ), which could indicate after-effects of Visigoth architecture .

Exterior construction

The exterior - unfortunately plastered and therefore rather unsightly - consists of a nave and a somewhat smaller rectangular apse . A small bell gable is attached to the otherwise unadorned and portal-free west facade . The entrance is in the middle of the south side; A few steps lead you to the lower-lying interior of the church.

inner space

The chapel - probably already plastered in its entirety in the 12th century - is essentially a single-nave and windowless building about 3.40 meters wide and 9.5 meters long; There are several stone benches along the side walls. The opposite the church room increases and located by a - almost imperceptible inwardly retracted - Arch separated chorus range of approximately 3.20 meters deep and 2.40 meters wide, a small altar is at its rear wall, extends the church to the east. A small - previously unglazed - window opening is let into the back wall of the rectangular choir apse above the altar; the nave is illuminated by two small window openings above the triumphal arch and in the upper part of the west wall. The nave and apse are provided with a barrel vault which, according to the general opinion, does not belong to the original structure and can be dated to the 11th, maybe even the 12th century.

Frescoes

The greatest treasure of the small church are the frescoes in the apse , which probably date from the 12th century. Depicted are scenes from the New Testament (incarnation of Christ) and the Apocalypse of John (return of Christ):

The color design of these frescoes influenced artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque .

gallery

  • Looking west

  • Choir area

  • Christ in the mandorla

  • 2 elders

  • Fresco in the chapel of St Martin-de-Fenollar

  • Medieval stone cross

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Chapelle Saint-Martin-de-Fenollar  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 42 ° 30 ′ 12 ″  N , 2 ° 49 ′ 16 ″  E