Abbey of Saint-Gilles facts for kids
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The Abbey of Saint-Gilles is a very old monastery in Saint-Gilles, a town in southern France. It was started by a saint named Giles. This abbey is so important that it's on the UNESCO Heritage List. This means it's recognized as a special place that should be protected for everyone to see. It's also part of the famous pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
History of the Abbey
The story says that the Abbey of Saint-Gilles was built in the 600s. It was founded by Saint Giles, a holy person. A king named Wamba, who was a Visigoth (a group of people who lived in Europe long ago), gave Saint Giles the land. This happened after the king accidentally hurt Saint Giles during a hunt.
At first, the monastery was named after Saint Peter and Saint Paul. But by the 800s, it was renamed after Saint Giles himself. He became a very popular saint in the area. His relics (special items connected to him) were kept in the abbey church. This made many pilgrims (people who travel for religious reasons) come to visit.
In the 1000s, the Abbey of Saint-Gilles became connected to Cluny Abbey, another very important monastery. Because it was doing well, the abbey was made bigger and more beautiful between the 1100s and 1400s. The cloister (a covered walkway, usually around a courtyard) was finished during this time.
However, in the 1500s, the church was badly damaged during the Wars of Religion. A group called the Huguenots (French Protestants) used it as a shelter. The abbey was repaired in the 1600s. It was damaged again during the French Revolution in the late 1700s, but then fixed up in the 1800s. Saint Giles's tomb was found again in 1865. Since 1965, it has once again become a place where pilgrims come to visit.
What the Abbey Looks Like
The abbey church is built in a style called Romanesque, which was common in southern France. The front of the church, called the façade, was built between 1120 and 1160. It has a fancy entrance with three doorways. The middle doorway is the biggest. These doorways are decorated with Corinthian columns (a type of ancient Greek column) and amazing sculptures from the Middle Ages.
- The bottom part of the sculptures shows animals and scenes from the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible).
- The middle part has statues of people and stories from the New Testament (the second part of the Bible).
- Above these, there are more scenes from the New Testament. These include the "Adoration of the Magi" (when the wise men visited baby Jesus), the "Crucifixion of Jesus" (when Jesus was nailed to a cross), and a "Maestà" (a painting or sculpture of the Virgin Mary with Jesus).
The sculptures on the front of the church were inspired by ancient Roman art. The very top part of the façade also had classical decorations, but they are gone now. The tall bell tower you see today was built in the 1700s.
The crypt (a room or vault beneath the main floor of a church), or lower church, was built in the early 1000s. It's about 50 meters long and 25 meters wide. It takes up the entire underground area beneath the main part of the church. In the middle of the crypt is the tomb of Saint Giles. This was a very important place for pilgrims until the 1500s, when his relics were moved to another church in Toulouse. The upper church, which has a main hall (nave) and two rounded ends (apses), was mostly rebuilt in the 1600s. However, the huge columns in the Corinthian style are still there.
Behind the rounded end of the church are the remains of the old choir area. This part shows that the church used to be much longer. It was 98 meters long, but now it's only about 50 meters.
Inside the northern wall of the old choir, there's a spiral staircase. It's known as the "Screw of St. Gilles." This staircase was built in the 1100s. It's special because its stone steps stick out from the wall without any visible support underneath.
Casts of the Abbey
You can find a plaster cast (a copy made from plaster) of the abbey's façade in the Hall of Architecture at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Images for kids
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Statue of St. James in the portico.
See also
In Spanish: Abadía de Saint-Gilles para niños
