Cathedrals and Cloisters of the South of France, Volume 1

by Elise Whitlock Rose

ELISE WHITLOCK ROSE

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS

BY

VIDA HUNT FRANCIS

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I.

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1906

---

Copyright, 1906
by
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

---

PREFACE.

For years the makers of this book have spent the summer time in wandering about the French country; led here by the fame of some old monument, or there by an incident of history. They have found the real, unspoiled France, often unexplored by any except the French themselves, and practically unknown to foreigners, even to the ubiquitous maker of guide-books. For weeks together they have travelled without meeting an English-speaking person. It is, therefore, not surprising that they were unable to find, in any convenient form in English, a book telling of the Cathedrals of the South which was at once accurate and complete. For the Cathedrals of that country are monuments not only of architecture and its history, but of the history of peoples, the psychology of the christianising and unifying of the barbarian and the Gallo-Roman, and many things besides, epitomised perhaps in the old words, “the struggle between the world, the flesh, and the devil.” In French, works on Cathedrals are numerous and exhaustive; but either so voluminous as to be unpractical except for the specialist—as the volumes of Viollet-le-Duc,—or so technical as to make each Cathedral seem one in an endless, monotonous procession, differing from the others only in size, style, and age. This is distinctly unfair to these old churches which have personalities and idiosyncrasies as real as those of individuals. It has been the aim of the makers of this book to introduce, in photograph and in story,—not critically or exhaustively, but suggestively and accurately,—the Cathedral of the Mediterranean provinces as it exists to-day with its peculiar characteristics of architecture and history. They have described only churches which they have seen, they have verified every fact and date where such verification was possible, and have depended on local tradition only where that was all which remained to tell of the past; and they will feel abundantly repaid for travel, research, and patient exploration of towers, crypts, and archives if the leisurely traveller on pleasure bent shall find in these volumes but a hint of the interest and fascination which the glorious architecture, the history, and the unmatched climate of the Southland can awaken.

For unfailing courtesy and untiring interest, for free access to private as well as to ecclesiastical libraries, for permission to photograph and copy, for unbounding hospitality and the retelling of many an old legend, their most grateful thanks are due to the Catholic clergy, from Archbishop to Curé and Vicar. For rare old bits of information, for historical verification, and for infinite pains in accuracy of printed matter, they owe warm thanks to Mrs. Wilbur Rose, to Miss Frances Kyle, and to Mrs. William H. Shelmire, Jr. For criticism and training in the art of photographing they owe no less grateful acknowledgment to Mr. John G. Bullock and Mr. Charles R. Pancoast.

E. W. R.

V. H. F.

---

CONTENTS.

• [PREFACE]
• 
  
• [LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED.]
• 
  
• [ILLUSTRATIONS.]
• 
  
• PAGE
• 
  
• The South of France
• I. The South of France[3]
• II. Architecture in Provence, Languedoc, qnd Gascony[29]
• 
  
• Provence
• I. The Cathedrals of the Sea[55]
• Marseilles—Toulon—Fréjus—Antibes—Nice
• II. Cathedrals Of The Hill-towns[72]
• Carpentras—Digne—Forcalquier—Vence—Grasse
• III.River-side Cathedrals[101]
• Avignon—Vaison—Arles—Entrevaux—Sisteron
• IV. Cathedrals of the Valleys[178]
• Orange—Cavaillon—Apt—Riez—Senez—Aix
• 
  
• Languedoc
• I. Cathedrals of the Cities[237]
• Nîmes—Montpellier—Béziers—Narbonne—Perpignan—
• Carcassonne—Castres—Toulouse—Montauban

---

Illustrations

• Page
• 
  
• Rodez[Frontispiece]
• “ Sheer and straight the pillars rise, ...
• and arch after arch is lost on the shadows of
• the narrow vaulting of the side-aisle.”
• “Carcassonne, the invulnerable”[5]
• “The Tower of an early maritime Cathedral”—Agde[10]
• “A nave of the earlier style”—Arles[15]
• “A nave of the later style”—Rodez[19]
• “The delicate choir of Saint-Nazaire”—Carcassonne[23]
• “A cloister of the South”—Elne[27]
• “A Romanesque aisle”—Arles[31]
• “The sculptured portals of Saint-trophime”—Arles[33]
• “A Gothic aisle”—Mende[35]
• “Corresponding differences in style”—Carcassonne[39]
• “Fortified Gothic built in brick”—Albi[43]
• “A church fortress”—Maguelonne[45]
• “Stately Gothic splendour”—Condom[47]
• Entrevaux[52]
• “People gather around the mail-coach as it makes its
• daily halt before the drawbridge.”
• “The new Cathedral”—Marseilles[57]
• “The desecration of the little cloister”—Fréjus[65]
• “The military omen—the tower”—Antibes[70]
• “The interior of Notre-dame-du-bourg”—Digne[77]
• “The interior has neither clerestory nor triforium”—Digne[81]
• “A large square tower served as a lookout”—Forcalquier[86]
• “A suggestive view from the side-aisle”—Forcalquier[87]
• “The old round arch of the Bishop's Palace”—Vence[92]
• “The low, broad arches, and the great supporting pillars”—Vence[93]
• “Higher than them all stands the Cathedral”—Grasse[97]
• “The pont d'Avignon”[99]
• “The interior has a shallow, gracefully balustraded balcony”—Avignon[103]
• “The porch, so classic in detail”—AVIGNON[107]
• From an old print
• “Notre-Dame-des-Doms”—Avignon[111]
• “The Tower of Philip the Fair”—Villeneuve-les-Avignon[114]
• “The great Palace”—Avignon[119]
• “On the banks of a pleasant little river is Vaison”[123]
• “The ruined castle of the Counts of Toulouse”—Vaison[125]
• “The whole apse-end”—Vaison[127]
• “The south wall, which is clearly seen from the road”—Vaison[129]
• “Two bays open to the ground”—Vaison[131]
• “The great piers and small firm columns”—Vaison[133]
• “In the midst of the wealth of antique ruins”—Arles[135]
• “The façade of saint-trophime”—Arles[137]
• “Right detail—the portal”—Arles[141]
• “Left detail—the portal”—Arles[145]
• “Through the cloister arches”—Arles[147]
• “A nave of great and slender height”—Arles[149]
• “The beauty of the whole”—Arles[151]
• “The Gothic walk”—Cloister—Arles[153]
• “This interior”—Entrevaux[156]
• “The Romanesque walk”—Cloister—Arles[157]
• “One of the three small drawbridges”—Entrevaux[159]
• “The Portcullis”—Entrevaux[160]
• “A fort that perches on a sharp peak”—Entrevaux[161]
• “A true 'Place d'Armes'”—Entrevaux[163]
• “The long line of walls that zigzag down the hillside”—Entrevaux[165]
• “The church tower stood out against the rocky peak”—Entrevaux[169]
• “The Cathedral is near the heavy round towers of the outer ramparts”—Sisteron[172]
• “The bridge across the Durance”—Sisteron[173]
• “Entrances to two narrow streets”—Sisteron[176]
• “It was a low-vaulted, sombre little cloister”—Cavaillon[182]
• “The Cathedral's tower and turret”—Cavaillon[187]
• “The main body of the church”—Apt[191]
• “The Virgin and Saint Anne—by Benzoni”—Apt[194]
• “Saint-Martin-de-Brômes with its high slim tower”[197]
• “The fortified Monastery of the Templars”—near Gréoux[199]
• “The tower of Notre-Dame-du-Siège”—Riez[201]
• “Nothing could be more quaintly old and modest than the Baptistery”—Riez[202]
• “Between the columns an altar has been placed”—Baptistery, Riez[203]
• “The beautiful granite columns”—Riez[207]
• “The mail-coach of senez”[211]
• “The open square”—Senez[213]
• “The palace of its prelates”—Senez[214]
• “The Cathedral”—Senez[215]
• “The Cathedral”—Senez[218]
• “Tapestries beautify the choir-walls”—Senez[219]
• “Between branches full of apple-blossoms—the church as the curé saw it”—Senez[221]
• “The south aisle”—Aix[224]
• “The Romanesque portal”—Aix[225]
• “The cloister”—Aix[227]
• “The Cathedral”—Aix[231]
• “An amphitheatre which rivals the art of the Coliseum”—Nîmes[238]
• “The general effect is somewhat that of a port-cochère”—Montpellier[244]
• “The finest view is that of the apse”—Montpellier[245]
• “The clock tower is very square and thick”—Béziers[248]
• “The quaint and pretty fountain”—Béziers[250]
• “The door of the cloister”—Narbonne[255]
• “This is a place of deserted solitude”—Narbonne[257]
• “These flying-buttresses give to the exterior its most curious and
• beautiful effect”—Narbonne[261]
• “All the old buildings of the city are of Spanish origin”—Perpignan[265]
• “The unfinished façade”—Perpignan[267]
• “The stony street of the hillside”—Carcassonne[269]
• “The ancient Cross”—Carcassonne[272]
• “Often too little time is spent upon the nave”—Carcassonne[275]
• “The choir is of the xiv century”—Carcassonne[279]
• “The façade, straight and massive”—Carcassonne[281]
• “Perspective of the Romanesque”—Carcassonne[283]
• “The nave of the xiii century is an aisle-less chamber, low and
• broadly arched”—Toulouse[291]
• “The present Cathedral is a combination of styles”—Toulouse[294]

---

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED.

Bayet.	Précis de l'Histoire de l'Art.
Bodley.	France.
Bourg.	Viviers, ses Monuments et son Histoire.
Choisy.	Histoire de l'Architecture.
Cougny.	L'Art au Moyen Age.
Cook.	Old Provence.
Corroyer.	L'Architecture romane.
"	L'Architecture gothique.
Cox.	The Crusades.
Darcel.	Le Mouvement archéologique relatif au Moyen Age.
Ès.	L'Église Saint-Etienne, Cathédrale de Toulouse.
Dempster.	Maritime Alps.
Ducéré.	Bayonne historique et pittoresque.
Duruy.	Histoire de France.
Ferree.	Articles on French Cathedrals appearing in the “Architectural Record.”
Gardère.	Saint-Pierre de Condom et ses Constructeurs.
Gould.	In Troubadour Land.
Guizot.	Histoire de France.
"	Histoire de la Civilisation en France.
Hallam.	The Middle Ages.
Hare.	South-eastern France.
"	South-western France.
—	History of Joanna of Naples, Queen of Sicily (published 1824).
Hunnewell.	Historical Monuments of France.
James.	A Little Tour through France.
—	Le Moyen Age (avec notice par Roger-Milès).
Larned.	Churches and Castles of Mediæval France.
Lasserre, L'abbé.	Recherches historiques sur la Ville d'Alet et son ancien Diocèse.
Lechevallier
Chevignard.	Les Styles français.
Macgibbon.	The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera.
Marlavagne.	Histoire de la Cathédrale de Rodez.
Martin.	Histoire de France.
Masson.	Louis IX and the XIII Century.
"	Francis I and the XVI Century.
Mérimée.	Études sur les Arts au Moyen Age.
Michelet.	Histoire de France.
Michelet and
Masson.	Mediævalism in France.
—	Monographie de la Cathédrale d'Albi.
Montalembert.	Les Moines d'Occident.
Milman.	History of Latin Christianity.
Palustre.	L'Architecture de la Renaissance.
Pastor.	Lives of the Popes.
Pennell.	Play in Provence.
Quicherat.	Mélanges d'Archéologie au Moyen Age.
Renan.	Études sur la Politique religieuse du Règne de Philippe le Bel.
Révoil.	Architecture romane du Midi de la France.
Rosieres.	Histoire de l'Architecture.
Schnasse.	Geschichte der bildenden Künste. (Volume III, etc.)
Sentetz.	Sainte-Marie d'Auch.
Sorbets.	Histoire d'Aire-sur-l'Adour[Pg 17].
Soulié.	Interesting old novels whose scenes are laid in the South of France:—
"	“Le Comte de Toulouse.”
"	“Le Vicomte de Béziers.”
"	“Le Château des Pyrénées,” etc.
Stevenson.	Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes.
Taine.	The Ancient Regime.
"	Journeys through France.
"	Origins of Contemporary France.
"	Tour through the Pyrénées.
—	'Twixt France and Spain.
Viollet-le-Duc.	Histoire d'une Cathédrale et d'un Hôtel-de-Ville.
"	Entretiens sur l'Architecture.
"	Dictionnaire raisonné de l'Architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle.

---