France

Abbatiale de Tournus

WHS Score 0.76 Votes 1 Average 1.0
>

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Abbatiale de Tournus (ID: 9704)
Country
France
Status
Removed from tentative list 1981 Site history
History of Abbatiale de Tournus
Criteria
Links
All Links

No links available.

Community Information

Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
No connections… yet. Propose a connection.
News

No news.

Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 21/07/18.

Caspar Dechmann

Abbatiale De Tournus

Abbatiale de Tournus (Removed from tentative list)

Abbatiale de Tournus by Caspar Dechmann

I travelled around Burgundy in 2016 and I was a bit surprised how important a cultural and religious center this area was in the middle ages. The famous reform order of Cluny founded hundreds of monasteries in a short time. Its mother church was the largest church of Christendom for about 500 years. When the order go too powerful and rich some monks founded a new order in Citeaux which turned into the cistercians with probable several thousand of monasteries all over the world. Sadly enough the both mother churches were largely or completely destroyed. Cluny was used as a quarry and only a small part is saved but is still very impressive. For fans of romanesque architecture this area is a real paradise almost every village has a castle and often remarkable parish church.

One of the most important and well conserved monasteries is definitively the early romanesque monastery of Tournus: St-Philibert. It is a bit younger then Cluny but a benedictine foundation. I was impressed by the castle like facade with two uneven towers. The west entrance of the church leads into a dark narthex with a low, heavy vault. Like the nave, it has three aisles. Above the narthex is the Chapel of St. Michael. A big three-naved plane room which seems even more spiritual though its plainness (picture). You can look up into the two towers with stairs in them but you cannot climb them. 

The chancel of the church is surrounded by a …

Keep reading 0 comments