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St. Nazaire Church (Basilique St. Nazaire), Carcassonne, France


Image by E.L. Malvaney
St. Nazaire Church (Basilique St. Nazaire), Carcassonne, France. A 12th century Romanesque nave combines with a 13th century Gothic choir, one of the best examples of the Gothic style in southern France. According to the brochure: "The Romanesque nave adopts a disposition frequently observed in churches of the Bas-Languedoc: barrel vaulting with doubled arches (nave), and barrel vaulting again for the especially narrow side aisles. The two side vaults act as buttresses for the central vault. Other characteristic detail: alternating round and squared columns. The squared columns are flanked on all sides by cylindrical colonnettes crowned by capitals of various forms. The rounded columns are uniform and climb only as high as the base of the arches that divide nave and side aisles. . . . The Gothic apse and transept may be compared to a lantern: large and numerous glassworks of great magnificence, harmonious in composition and colour. The gracefulness of the columns separating the windows, the bravado with which they climb right up to the vault the sveltness of the pillars contrasting with the massiveness of those in the nave, all contribute to create a model of elegance and airiness. The windows so close together seem to hide the wall completely, and the vault seems to float miraculously in mid-air. . . . The North and South Rose windows date respectively from the 13th and 14th cent. . . . The Organ, one of the oldest in existence, dates from 1522."

Tags: Basilique, Carcassonne, Church, France, Nazaire
Filed under: Church Brochure