Tour Pey-Berland
In Bordeaux standing Pey-Berland is the choir of St Andrew's Cathedral on the south-eastern side isolated upstream bell tower , similar to an Italian Campanile . At its top is the city's highest vantage point.
history
The tower is named after Archbishop Pey Berland , who initiated the construction from 1440. In 1466 it was completed. It was placed in front of the cathedral, which was built on marshy ground, to protect it from the vibrations caused by the bells. The foundations of a chapel were used in the construction, of which a window has been preserved on the ground floor.
Due to the lack of bells, the tower was converted and divided into apartments. In 1667 a storm damaged the tower. It was supposed to be demolished in 1790, but the public campaigned for its preservation. It was sold and converted into a lead factory.
The church bought the tower back in 1851 under Cardinal Donnet after it had been listed as a historical monument in 1848 . Now three small and one large bells have finally been installed. In 1863 the 50-meter-high tower was increased to 66 m by the spire with the statue of Our Lady of Aquitaine ( Aquitaine ). The largest bell weighs eight tons, it has been hanging in the tower since 1869 and is nicknamed "Ferdinand-André". The height of the tower in Bordeaux is surpassed by the tower of Saint-Michel (114 m), which is also standing alone.
architecture
The tower consists of four levels, there is no ornament on the windowless base. The only access was the door of the staircase in the north-western buttress . The large opening with a pointed arch on the north side was only broken in the 19th century so that the bells could be brought into the tower. In the north and east of the second level there are blind arcades with late Gothic tracery . On the other two sides, houses adjoined the tower until the 19th century. On the third level, the twin windows adorned with wooden sound blinds and flamboyant style show the bell chamber. The fourth level is the octagonal spire with two galleries, on which the statue of the Madonna closes the tower at the top. This is also where Bordeaux's highest vantage point is located, which can be climbed via 231 steps of a narrow spiral staircase.
Building inscription
On the north side, an inscription names the day the foundation stone was laid - October 6, 1440 - and the owner, Archbishop Pey (Peter) Berland. Here is the text in today's school Latin:
1 Disquadram quicumque oculis turrim aspicis aequis
2 Mille quadringentis quadraginta labentibus annis
3 Felicibus coeptam auspiciis nonasqua secundo
4 Octobris: tantum certe scito esse profundam
5 Fons prope prosiliens quantum tenet. huic quoque primum
6 Subiecit lapidem Petrus Archipraesul in urbe
7 Burdigala. cuius plebs collaetetur in aevum.
On the stone we find the text in medieval form: some words are abbreviated, e stands for ae or oe ( equis, ceptam, Archipresul, colletetur, evum ). The first word disquadram "un-quadrangular" is strange and otherwise not used . This obviously indicates a defect, the irregular floor plan of the tower. If you could read bisquadram , it would mean “twice square”, that is, “octagonal”. The D is clearly legible and the tower is by no means octagonal. The deficiency, which oculis aequis should be looked at with righteous eyes and should be ignored , is justified by the particular height of the building. So the inscription reads:
1 Whoever you look at the non-square tower with righteous eyes,
2 which after 1440 years (since the birth of Christ)
3 was started under lucky omens on the day before the Nones of
October 4th: know that it is certainly so high ,
5 as the nearby bubbling fountain reaches (is distant). This (tower) was also based on the first
6 stone Peter, Archbishop of the city of
7 Bordeaux. And their people should be full of joy forever.
literature
- Guides bleus. Bordeaux . Hachette, Paris 2006, p. 92, ISBN 2012438806
- Pierre Trial, Étude et traduction du texte de l'inscription de la tour de Pey-Berland. Revue de la Société Archéologique de Bordeaux 1926, pp. 33-41
Web links
Coordinates: 44 ° 50 ′ 15.3 " N , 0 ° 34 ′ 35.9" W.