Abbey church of Gellone (2022)
Located in the remote village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (the name itself says how remote it is...!) in southern France, the Benedictine abbey of Gellone was founded around 800 by Guillaume (William), former Count of Toulouse and a close friend to Emperor Charlemagne. William, later canonized, was enticed to do so by saint Benoît (Benedict) of Aniane, the great spreader of the Benedictine rule after its creator saint Benoît of Nursia three centuries earlier. Benoît’s own abbey of Aniane was but a couple of leagues away.
Owner of a piece of the True Cross given by Charlemagne, William of Gellone soon turned his abbey into a venerated place of pilgrimage, and his own sainthood only added to the prestige and reputation of the place, which had become a renowned halt on the Path to Compostela (Via Tolosana). Additionally, the abbey possessed fragments of clothing having belonged to the Virgin Mary. In 1090, the abbey obtained the privilege to depend directly from the Pope, and was thus exempted from the jurisdiction of the local bishop of Lodève, which was a rare privilege. Its standing was such that pilgrims on the more northerly Via Podiensis were drawn to make a détour to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert to honor the saint and the relics in the abbey church.
Of the original church built by Guillaume in the 800s there is nothing left. The current church was built soon after Year 1000 in two distinct campaigns, as is evidenced by the stylistic differences between the nave on the one hand, and the apse and transept on the other. The bell tower is from the 1400s, a period during which the abbey’s decline began.
Most of the cloister was built between 1025 and 1050.
When the French Revolution came in 1789, only six monks remained. The abbey was sold to private owners, changed hands several times and was, like so many other such monuments, used as a stone quarry for most of the 19th century, even though it was included on the first list of Historic Landmarks in 1840. Many of the cloister’s sculptures were sold to an American collector and can be seen today in The Cloisters museum in New York City.
Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.