Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue439" data-source="post: 826746" data-attributes="member: 53455">The crypt under the abbey church of Saint Giles, southern France (2022)In the small town of Saint-Gilles in Camargue, a monastery was erected in the 600s. Initially dedicated to the saints Peter and Paul, its dedication was changed during the 800s to Gilles (the English-language Giles), a local hermit whose remains were kept in the abbey church. Thus it became a very important place of pilgrimage on the Via Tolosana, one of the major paths to Compostela beginning in Arles, a mere 33 kilometers from Saint-Gilles... and thus it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998.In fact, the reputation of Saint Giles and the miracles he (or rather his holy remains) accomplished was such that it was the third most frequented place of pilgrimage in the whole Western world, just after Rome and Compostela itself. The crowds were so enormous and so diverse that the town numbered 134 money changers, where a major city or port in Europe would rarely have more than thirty...The town of Saint-Gilles also was, in the Middle Ages, the end of the famous Mediæval Path of Régordane, a section of the way that lead through the wild Auvergne and Cévennes mountains from the Île-de-France (the Paris area) to the Languedoc, the Mediterranean Sea and Spain.The abbey was affiliated with Cluny from 1132 and technically became a priory, but its importance and reputation were such that it was never truly treated as such, even though it enjoyed the protection of the Burgundian arch-monastery.The abbey church we see today was built from 1130 on top of the previous one, which became the crypt where the saint’s body was exposed. Its façade is particularly renowned as a “book of stone” depicting many scenes of the Scriptures, with a wide variety of artistic sources of inspiration: the Antiquity, the Eastern world and the Romanesque.That crypt is very long and wide and a little bit scary to enter with its very low vaulted ceilings that seem just about ready to collapse under the enormous weight of the church above...  <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite9" alt=":eek:" title="Eek!    :eek:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":eek:" />  The tomb of Saint Giles is in the back.[ATTACH=full]412812[/ATTACH]... and here is what’s above it: very heavy indeed! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite11" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes    :rolleyes:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":rolleyes:" />Both photos: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.[ATTACH=full]412813[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

Verification