Ste-Marie (Brouilla)

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The Romanesque parish church of Sainte-Marie in the southern French town of Brouilla in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the old cultural region of Roussillon is one of the rare buildings with a three-conch choir . Church construction has been recognized as a monument historique since 1972 .

Church Sainte-Marie in Brouilla

location

The church is located in Brouilla, about 300 m from the north bank of the Tech River , at an altitude of about 30  m ; the city of Perpignan is about 16 km (driving distance) to the north, the former episcopal city of Elne is about 9 km to the northeast.

history

The first mention of a church called Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in Brulianum comes from the year 959. The current church construction, however, mainly dates from the early 12th century. The portal and bell gable ( clocher mur or espadanya ) may have been added a few decades later. The church has always served exclusively as the parish church of the small town.

architecture

Stone material

The building is almost entirely made of uncut rubble stones ; only the significantly larger corner stones , which stabilize the building, and the reveals of the apse window are precisely carved. The portal is made of Céret's light-colored marble , which was brought in from about 20 km away.

Choir

The choir solution of no church is unique in the region: the larger central apse is accompanied by two smaller side apses arranged at right angles to it, which puts the building in the tradition of the three-church choirs. The central apse has a small window with sloping reveals; the side apses are windowless.

Longhouse

The approximately 12 m long nave of the church has two high-lying window openings on the south side and a small window in the otherwise unadorned west facade; the north side of the church has no windows. As usual in the region, the entrance portal is on the south side.

portal

Compared to the rest of the building, the portal, which protrudes slightly from the wall, is exceptionally precisely carved. Two set columns each carry a figurative capital with lion-like monsters and small human figures in the background; An inner archivolt arch decorated with braided ribbons is located above a laterally bound and partially decorated fighter plate . The inner edge of the face of the outer arch is chamfered and decorated with tongues of leaves; above it runs a slightly protruding arch with tendril ornamentation. The tympanum field , consisting of a stone slab, is undecorated; At the top, a projecting cornice with a vegetal decoration completes the portal zone.

  • Église Sainte-Marie de Brouilla (view from SW)

  • portal

  • left capital

  • right capital

inner space

The nave, which is plastered on all sides, is barrel vaulted with belt arch girders ; the three apses have unadorned domes .

Furnishing

The furnishings include a holy water font made from an unadorned capital and an equally unadorned baptismal font in the right side apse. Three figures of Mary from the 15th to 17th centuries should also be mentioned. An altarpiece with scenes of the Passion of Christ, which is quite significant for a small parish church, is painted on both sides and another with a host donating Jesus (both from the 16th century) are not on permanent display.

See also

literature

  • Géraldine Mallet: Églises romanes oubliées du Roussillon. Nouvelles Presses du Languedoc, Montpellier 2003, ISBN 978-2-8599-8244-7 , p. 148.
  • Olivier Poisson: Promenades en Roussillon roman. Zodiaque 2003, ISBN 978-2-7369-0290-2 , p. 37.

Web links

Commons : Ste-Marie (Brouilla)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Sainte-Marie, Brouilla in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Coordinates: 42 ° 33 ′ 57.5 "  N , 2 ° 54 ′ 14.7"  E