ABBEY OF SAINT-GILLES
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Beautiful abbey, masterpiece of medieval art, with a remarkable crypt, the largest in France, on the way to Compostela
At the entrance to the Camargue, in the village of Saint-Gilles, stands the abbey church of the same name, whose magnificent façade has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, as part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. It's a 12th-century masterpieceof Romanesque, Medieval and Oriental art, with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, statues of apostles, a fabulous bestiary and a frieze depicting the Passion of Christ. Built in the 12th century on the site of a 7th-century monastery dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and later to St. Gilles, a local hermit who distributed all his wealth to the poor, and whose relics are stored in the abbey church. It was the fourth most important pilgrimage site in the Christian world, after Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela. This façade was a veritable stone book for the often illiterate faithful of the time. The Wars of Religion and the sackings of the French Revolution took their toll on the edifice. It has, however, preserved its sculpted façade, monumental crypt and spiral staircase.
The crypt, a veritable lower church, contains the tomb of Saint-Gilles. It is exceptional for its size and the quality of its vaults. It gives access to the remains of the cloister, once at the heart of the ancient monastery, which have been excavated in astonishing detail. Even today, its study remains an essential stage in the Compagnons de taille de pierre's tour de France apprenticeship program.
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