France, August 2023:
Levroux, La Souterraine, and Conques-en-Rouergue
Levroux (Indre department):
The town of Levroux is best known for
the Collegiale Saint-Sylvain. Built in the 13th
century upon the foundation of a former Roman temple, this collegiale
immediately became a major pilgrimage site for the healing from the ˝fire
of Saint Sylvain˝, the other name for leprosy. The style of the church is
late Roman, early gothic. Remarkable wood carvings adorn the
its choir stalls.
Exterior view of the Collegiale.
Nave of the church.
|
|
|
|
Beautifully decorated altar.
Left: Choir stalls ˝with mercy˝, where members of the
clergy stay during services. The narrow seats (called ˝misericordes˝)
give the impression that the clergy members are standing,
when they are actually sitting. Right and other photos below: Fanciful,
some even grotesque, wood carvings adorning the stalls. These sculptures were
originally intended to remind the clergy of the vices and virtues of everyday
life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beautiful timbered house near the Collegiale.
|
|
|
|
La Souterraine (Creuse department):
Located south of Levroux, La Souterraine is another medieval town.
Upper part of the massive Porte Sain-Jean (13th century), which
was part of the town's former fortifications.
Left: Church Notre-Dame (11th-12th centuries) built by the monks of
the Abbey Saint-Martial of Limoges. Right: Massive slab stored in the church;
it bears a decoration in high relief representing a religious dressed in a
chasuble.
|
|
|
Painted vaulted ceiling of a chapel in the crypt below the church
Notre-Dame.
Left: Lantern of the dead (˝lanterne
des morts˝) in the cemetery of La Souterraine. It is a hollow tower with a pyramidal roof. A
lamp hangs between six small bays under the roof. (Lanterns of the dead are
relatively common in the Limousin region of France. They generally date from
the 12th century. They were erected to light cemeteries. One of their purposes
was to chase away ghosts that might lurk at night.) Right: Tomb in the old part
of the cemetery.
|
|
|
Tombs in the old section of the La Souterraine
cemetery and close-up on one of the headstones.
|
|
|
Conques-en-Rouergue (Aveyron department):
The medieval village of Conques-en-Rouergue is a major stop along the Camino de Santiago
pilgrimage. It overlooks the valley of the Lot.
Houses and streets of Conques.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tympanum of the church of the Abbey
Sainte-Foy.
Interior of the church.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sculpture on the outside wall south of the church.
Back to
main France page | Back to my
mountaineering/trekking/travel webpage