Abbey Saint-Pierre de Moissac

The Saint-Pierre abbey of Moissac is characterized by one of the most beautiful French architectural whole with its extraordinary Romance sculptures. It is in the commune of Moissac, in the Département of Tarn-et-Garonne in area the Midday-Pyrenees, on the Tarn.

Presentation

The Abbey, founded to the 7th century, was attached in 1047 to powerful the Abbaye of Cluny and became, as of the 12th century, the most eminent center monastic of the south-west of France. If the abbey and the Cloître offer a remarkable example of mixture of the styles Gothic novel and , it is the tympanum southern gate which constitutes the true masterpiece of Moissac.

Carried out at the 12th century, it illustrates the vision of Midsummer's Day of the Apocalypse in a profusion of expressive details, even hallucinated.

The decoration of the arcs and the capitals of the cloister is a true splendor.

One finds two there Musée S: sacred art in the chapter house, popular arts and traditions in the abbey Palate.

History

The legendary origins of the abbey according to a pious legend maintained by the Benedictines moissagais, concerned prestige of their abbey, this one would have been founded by Clovis in person the shortly after a victory gained here over the Visigoths, in 506. The frank king, having made the wish set up a Monastery if he triumphed, launched top of the hill his javelin to mark the precise place where “the abbey with the thousand monks would rise”, in memory of thousand of its warriors died in the combat. However the Javelot was planted in the middle of a Marais, which required constructions on Piloti S.D'ailleurs - and we leave the legend here -, the moisture which reigns in the basement of the Abbatiale Saint Pierre is partly responsible for the serious deteriorations which affect the low-reliefs of the Romance gate today.

Actually, Moissac can be regarded as one of the many monasteries established in the Aquitaine of the 7th century with the support of sovereigns Mérovingiens, such Dagobert, and under the impulse undoubtedly of the bishop of Cahors, holy Didier (630 - 655). The privilege of royal protection was renewed at the beginning of the 9th century by Louis the Piles, then king d' Aquitaine, protection replaced soon by that of the Counts de Toulouse.

But the situation of the city on the great way of passage, road and river, connecting Bordeaux and Toulouse, made it particularly vulnerable to the invasions. Thus, the abbey it was ransacked by Arabic of Al-Andalus, first once when those besieged Toulouse, one second time after their defeat of Poitiers in 732. One century later, of new plunderings were the fact of the Norman pirates who went up the the Garonne then, at the 10th century, of the Hungarian.

Fastening in Cluny, by Odilon saint

In 1047, all is to be remade! Because theory and practical became very distant one from the other. The Monk S Benedictine S, compelled in theory with manual work and agricultural S, discharge in fact from their drudgeries on the brothers convers and the serfs. Nobility obliges. Most serious is that, under the direction of the Abbé Etienne, the discipline was slackened considerably. This character owes his abbey seat only with the benevolence of Gaubert, a local lord who had bought the abbey extremely expensive. Anxious to return in its accounts, it had charged its protected to divert all the richnesses of the monastery…

But there is worse: according to a chronicler, the abbey had become “a haunt of robbers”. The death of this abbot if not very scrupulous pushed the bishop of Cahors to intervene and to call upon the monks clunisiens. Durand de Bredons, the new abbot of Cluny, arrived in person on the spot. He has mission, in priority, to raise the buildings which threaten to crumble. Then, when the order is restored, it will be time to affiliate this abbey at the head office. A way also of being established in South-west.

The choice of Moissac like major stage on the way of Saint-Jacques-with-Compostelle, involved a brilliant spiritual and artistic rebirth. With the large abbot of origin auvergnate dom Durand de Bredons (1072), at the same time bishop of Toulouse, began the golden age from the monastery which extended its possessions in all the Languedocien South and until in Spain. The abbey was controlled by large abbots: dom Hunaud, which was Viscount of Brulhois, dom Ansquitil, which made set up the cloister (1115) and accommodated the pope Urbain II come to devote the high altar of the church, and the happy Roger, with whom one owes the turn-porch and the gate with his famous tympanum (1135). At the end of the 13th century, the large abbots builders Raymond de Montpezat, then Bertrand de Montaigu could raise the ruins, their work was destroyed by the One hundred Year old war and its procession of desolations. The exactions of the Large Companies were added to an epidemic of Peste in this frontier town, with the doors of English Aquitaine, bitterly disputed by the two camps. At the end of the 15th century and at the beginning of 16th, the storm passed, Aimery of Roquemaurel, then Pierre de Caraman had to almost entirely rebuild Abbatiale ruined to them; they completed great work, in particular, the Gothic part of the abbey one.

Under the Revolution, finally, in October 1793, the furniture of the church and its stained glasses, the ornaments and the parts of goldsmithery of the Treasury, were ransacked and delivered to plundering during a riot.

The cloister, sold like national good, was used initially as salpetre factory, then of military quartering. At this point in time soldiers systematically hammered the heads of the characters of the historiés capitals.

What neither the exactions of the soldiers nor those of the rioters had carried out, the Engineer S of the Railroad failed well to take the terrible responsibility for it. The Cloître, which was located on the layout envisaged of the line, was to be entirely demolished. Multiple protests made it possible to save it in extremis, from where the curve drawn here by the rail, to avoid it. However, the large refectory and the kitchens of the monks, to north, were sacrificed. The event had the merit to however alert the very young administration of the Historic buildings which, under the direction of the architect Purple-the-Duke, undertook the first work of safeguard.

The abbey

Excavations revealed under abbey the Saint-Pierre the annular corridor of a church préromane with a graffiti of the 4th century, and the round pillars of the primitive nave. The oldest part which remains is the Clocher - porch of 1120, strengthened twenty years afterwards and sheltering one of the most beautiful Romance gates which are. The low part of the Nave, out of stone, is also Romance, but the high part out of bricks is southernmost Gothic; the two spans of the chorus, the Apse with five sides and the Chapelle S are 15th. One sees there Pietà of 15th and a crucifixion of 17th.
The Romance capitals of the cloister were completed in 1100 under the Ansquitil abbot, but the unit was taken again with 13th with other posts and other arcades in warhead. Rooms of the monks, palates of the abbots and turn spread out 13th at the 15th century.

The tympanum of the abbey one

Realized between 1110 and 1130, the tympanum of the southern door of the church Saint Pierre of Moissac takes as a starting point the Apocalypse of Jean and introduces in his center a Christ in majesty, the feet resting on the crystal sea. This figure, usually used for the decoration of the Romance tympanums, is surrounded of the symbols of the four evangelists (Marc, Matthieu, Luc and Jean), while the twenty-four old men of the Apocalypse take seat in the bottom and on the sides of the scene.

The hieratism of the characters, the unrealistic character of certain postures and the treatment of draped, the lack of freedom of the figures compared to the framework are features characteristic of the Romance sculpture. The delicacy of the reliefs and the picturesque dimension of certain details accentuate the charm and the spiritual dimension of the unit, true masterpiece of the Romanesque art. The lintel and the curves are decorated vegetable reasons. The lintel poses problem, it is similar to the “stone constantine” museum of Cahors, it must be an employed again Roman vestige.

The pier monolith is decorated interlaced animals, three couples of Lion S and lionesses intersected, placed on a vegetable bottom, superimpose themselves on the apparent face of the pier; the side faces represent holy Paul and the Prophète Isaïe. As for the two characters of the multifoil oven walls of Moorish influence, they appear holy Pierre and the Jérémie prophet. Both Apôtre S are probably an allusion to the fastening of Moissac to the abbey of Cluny, placed under the protection of holy Pierre and holy Paul.

The sides of the porch are also carved. The reliefs of right-hand side show, on three registers: Annunciation and Visitation, Worship of the Magus S and Presentation with the Temple, the Escape in Egypt and the Fall of the idols. The opposite side illustrates the parabola of the poor Lazare and the bad rich person, dedicated to the infernal torments reserved for luxurieux and miserly, appearing in the lower part.

The bell-tower-porch

There remains of the building of origin only the bell-tower-porch which was strengthened towards 1180. The fortification comprises a covered way, a notched parapet, archères and a gallery with machicolation.

The narthex

The decoration of the bulky capitals of the narthex, masterpieces of composition, fact call to vegetable or animal reasons, such these wolf S and these shves-wolf from which the heads come to merge, with the angle, to remove a Mouton or a Oiseau in their mouth. These animals with the tended bodies, laid out in X on the principal face, announce those of the pier.

The nave of the church

One penetrates in the Narthex whose vault rests on eight powerful imbedded columns with big tops very stylized of 11th and 12th century, supporting the repercussion of four veins in intersecting ribs.

The nave preserved part of its furniture, including one Vierge of Pity of 1476, charming Fuite in Egypt of the end of the 15th century, as well as admirable a Christ Romance of the 12th century, and finally a setting with the tomb of 1485. The chorus is surrounded by a carved stone fence, 16th century, behind which one released a Abside Carolingien. Stalls of the 17th century. In a niche placed under the Organ, a Sarcophagus mérovingien in white Marble of the the Pyrenees.

It has, close to the chorus a “document” of the greatest historical interest : a plate of dedication, gone back to 1063. Of which the text, translated Latin known as: “ the dedication of this church on November five is honoured to have gathered these bishops: for Auch: Ostinde, for Lectoure: Raymond, for the Comminge S: Guillaume, for Agen: Guillaume, for the Bigorre: good Héraclius, for Oloron: Etienne, for Surface: Pierre, Toulouse: You Durand, his guard and ours. Foulques, wire of Simon who makes the law with Cahors was not wished. It was 1063 years after God had given to the world the worthy virginal childbirth. For you, O Christ God, the king Clovis founded this house. After him, Louis Débonnaire filled it its generosities. ”

Outside, one sees clearly appearing the two periods of construction of the nave with a Romance part (out of stone) and another gothic script (in brick). One finds the Romance part in the base of the walls of the nave and in the windows in semicircular arch of the low parts. The remainder was carried out at the 15th century, in the Gothic Style southernmost.

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