century. Here also (Fig. 98) wide machicolations are formed by arches
thrown across between the buttresses, while the parapet above is
finished with an open arcaded balustrade, which, in an ecclesiastical
building, is more appropriate than an ordinary crenellation, and serves
the same purpose equally well. These defences protect the large windows
below from being taken by escalade, while, for still further security,
the windows themselves are completely covered with strong ornamental
iron grilles.
[Illustration: FIG. 99. CATHEDRAL OF ST NAZAIRE, BÉZIERS.]
The interior (Fig. 99) exhibits a fine instance of Gothic design
engrafted on the Southern ground plan.
The choir is a simple wide hall, terminated with an apse of the full
width, and containing nine bays; while the groined and ribbed vaulting,
and all the details of the windows, arches, and shafts, with their
ornamentation, is entirely Gothic. The lower part has been finished at a
much later period with Renaissance woodwork. In the manner in which the
apse vaulting is carried out there is a strong reminiscence of the
domical form; while the upright wall above the vaulting, with its
circular eye at the junction of apse and choir, is a feature which
recalls many Provençal examples.
[Illustration: FIG. 100. FOUNTAIN IN CLOISTERS, BÉZIERS.]
The cloisters are situated to the south of the church, and are in good
preservation. Their design is completely Northern, of the somewhat cold
style of the fifteenth century. The arcade is open, and without
tracery, with large buttresses between, carried up with pinnacles above
the balustrade. The fountain in the centre of the cloister-garth is
simple but effective (Fig. 100).
The view of the town and cathedral from the river (Fig. 98) is very
fine. The great mass of the cathedral is seen towering above the huge
remains of the ancient fortifications; while in the foreground the Orbe
is dammed up, and forms the motive power of a number of picturesque
mills in the form of towers. An ancient bridge spans the river lower
down.
[Illustration: FIG. 101. HOUSE IN BÉZIERS.]
Near the cathedral is a house of the fifteenth or sixteenth century,
with a quaint bow window (Fig. 101). The great corbels over the window
to the left have no doubt been for the purpose of supporting some kind
of balcony in connection with the defence of the entrance doorway below.
In the district we are now traversing many interesting examples still
exist of the ancient Provençal style similar to those already
illustrated.
At Puisalicon, near Béziers, there occurs a remarkable specimen of a
campanile, with three tiers of arched openings, like those of Italy
(_see_ Fergusson’s Handbook).
At St Pierre de Reddes, near Bedarieux, the ancient church consists of a
long nave with barrel vault, strengthened with transverse ribs, which
spring from a series of double columns, of which the arrangement is
evidently borrowed from the Antique (Fig. 102).
[Illustration: FIG. 102. ST PIERRE DE REDDES. (From _Révoil_).]
St Martin de Londres (Herault) may also be mentioned as having a
tri-apsal east end, while the exterior is ornamented with the arcaded
pattern so common on the Rhine and in Lombardy.
NARBONNE.--When the Romans, B.C. 118, became masters of Southern Gaul,
they established, under the leadership of an enthusiastic young
patrician called Licinius Crassus, a colony in the ancient Phœnician
port, dedicating it to Mars, and giving it the name of Narbo Martius. A
principal object of this colony was to secure the road into Spain. After
a time the first foundation became weak, and, B.C. 45, a new colony was
led out from Rome by Tiberius Claudius Nero. Narbo Martius was then
capital of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, which extended from
the Alps to the Pyrenees.
Under the Empire, there arose in this favoured colony, on the banks of
the Atax or Aude, a complete image on a small scale of Imperial Rome,
with its curia, duumvirs, consuls, pretors, questors, etc., and it was
adorned with a Forum, Temples, Markets, Baths, and Amphitheatre.
Of these fine Roman edifices not one remains. Such of them as escaped
the devastations of the Goths and Saracens are said to have been
demolished by Richelieu, that the materials might be used in the
construction of the new fortifications of the town erected by him. The
engineer of these works seems to have had more reverence for ancient art
than his princely master, for he collected all the sculptured fragments,
and built them into the walls where they could easily be seen. The
fortifications thus formed a kind of open air museum of ancient
sculptures and inscriptions; but they have now, in their turn, been
removed to make room for the expansion of the town. The Roman monuments,
however, have been preserved, and are placed in the mediæval Episcopal
Palace, which has been partly converted into a museum.
The important architectural works which still exist are all concentrated
round the Cathedral of St Just (Fig. 103). As at Béziers, the Cathedral
formed part of the fortifications of the Archbishop’s Palace. It is one
of those designs in Northern Gothic which look as if transplanted into
Southern soil. The whole character of the buildings is Northern. Whether
we regard the steep roofs and gables, the sub-divided forms of the
vaulting, the sections of the mouldings, the character of the cloisters,
the shape of the windows, the dispositions of the plan, or the defensive
arrangements, the whole design appertains to the style of the Royal
Domain.
[Illustration: FIG. 103. CATHEDRAL OF ST JUST, NARBONNE.]
M. Viollet-le-Duc shews the very close resemblance between the plans of
St Just and those of the Cathedrals of Limoges and Clermont, in
Auvergne. These he regards as the three most splendid and remarkably
similar examples of the Gothic of the fourteenth century, and he thinks
that they have probably all been designed by the same man. The
Cathedral of Narbonne is distinguished by the beauty and skill of its
construction. In the fourteenth century the Gothic architects had
arrived at great perfection in the art of building. The various forces
in connection with the vaulting had become perfectly understood, and
here the architect has endeavoured to shew how accurately he could
calculate them. All the mouldings are carefully profiled, and the
penetrations and junctions admirably managed; but sculpture is almost
entirely dispensed with, even the caps of the columns having no foliage.
As a piece of architectural engineering the building is perfect, and has
stood without a flaw; but it rather wants interest owing to the absence
of ornamentation. It was begun on a great scale, but, owing to want of
funds, only the choir has been erected. The vault is nearly as high as
those of Beauvais and Cologne. The absence of decoration in the building
itself is, to some extent, compensated by the richness and beauty of the
tombs and monuments inserted between the piers of the choir. That of
Archbishop Pierre de la Jugée is specially rich in sculpture, and still
retains some fine painting.
Like most of the churches in the South, St Just is fortified, and, along
with the Archbishop’s Palace, formed the citadel of the city, and
occupied the site of the Roman Forum. The fortifications consist in a
double tier of crenellations, which take the place of the usual
balustrades over the chapels, and are continued round the apse, with
arched passages which rest on piers brought up from the chapels of the
“rond point,” and are crowned with turrets which, as well as the
connecting bridges, are all provided with crenellated parapets. These
airy provisions for defence give an unusual and very singular appearance
to the exterior of the apse (_see_ view, Fig. 103).
In the twelfth century Narbonne was a place of great importance, but,
owing to the silting up of the harbour in the fourteenth century, its
commerce and revenues were greatly diminished.
The Archbishop’s Palace was an immense castle, somewhat after the type
of the Pope’s Palace at Avignon. The ancient city of Narbonne
preserved, till the twelfth century, much of its Roman municipal
administration--the Commune having councillors with the title of _probi
homines_, afterwards changed to that of consuls, who not only carried on
the internal affairs of the city, but negotiated treaties with Genoa,
Pisa, and other powers. As invariably happened, however, these rights
were encroached upon by the feudal superiors. At Narbonne the Archbishop
claimed the superiority, and in 1212 he declared himself Duke, and
received the homage of the Count, who was the lay superior. These
different powers in the town were naturally in a state of constant
warfare, and, in accordance with the usage of the times, the Archbishop
resolved to fortify himself within a castle of strength and dignity
commensurate with his importance as Primate of Gaul--a title assumed by
the prelate who was in office in 1096. A few portions of the palace of
the twelfth century remain, but it has nearly all given way to works
erected at later periods. The building is now converted into the Hôtel
de Ville and Museum; and, in order to carry out the alterations
required, together with the new works (which were executed under the
superintendence of Viollet-le-Duc) some of the old buildings and
foundations had to be cleared out. This new work occupies the central
space between the two old towers (_see_ Fig. 103). The architect had
thus an excellent opportunity of ascertaining the exact form and
arrangement of the ancient palace, and of preparing the plan of it given
in his “Dictionnaire.”
At the south-east angle stands the great tower or keep (to the left in
the view), commanding the canal and the “place,” and overtopping the
tower of the Count, which stood opposite to it. This tower was built by
Archbishop Gilles Ascelin in 1318, and forms an independent redoubt. It
is four storys in height. The basement is circular internally, and, as
usual, has no openings to the exterior, being only reached from the
floor above by an aperture in the vault. The first floor is octagonal
internally and vaulted. It is intended for defence, and is provided with
passages in the thickness of the walls, from which diverging loopholes
command the exterior in all directions. The third floor is square
internally, and has been the living room, being furnished with windows
on three sides and a fireplace, and had a wooden ceiling. The top story
is also square, and is covered with a pointed vault. It has three
windows, and chambers in the wall provided with loops for defence. The
construction of the roof and angle turrets is somewhat remarkable. The
central platform of the roof is some feet lower than the parapet walk,
and is connected with it by a series of steps rising along each side.
The angle turrets are three storys in height, and access is obtained to
the different stages, 1st, from the platform roof; 2nd, from the parapet
walk; and 3rd, by steps up from the latter to the parapet on the top of
the turrets. The tower was fortified on its three angles next the
outside, with the above formidable turrets, which were probably further
armed with some kind of wooden machicolations in time of danger. The
fourth angle, next the inner courtyard, contained the staircase with a
watch turret carried up above it.
The other portions of the palace comprised an immense hall, and the
numerous living apartments of the archbishop and his retainers. The
entrance was by a long open passage well defended from high walls on
either side. Within the fortified enclosure were also the cloisters and
chapter house. These are of a somewhat late and cold design, dating from
1375. The roof, which is flat, formed an agreeable promenade within the
walls.
The Church of St Paul, beyond the canal, is an example of the mixture of
the Gothic and Southern styles. The piers are light and lofty, and
exhibit a Gothic character mixed with souvenirs of the heavier preceding
style, in the small and few windows, the “historied” caps, &c.
On the way between Narbonne and Perpignan ample opportunity is afforded,
as the railway runs along between the lengthy lagunes and through the
dreary salt marshes, of observing the process of silting up which has
here been in progress for centuries, and which has had such a marked
influence in changing the character of the country, and in affecting the
fortunes of the various cities which formerly flourished on the
prosperous banks of these inland seas, now so desolate and pestiferous.
After passing the lagunes we reach the wide and fertile plain of
Roussillon, where the process of silting up has long been completed, and
where fruitful gardens now take the place of marshy wastes. Here too the
snow-capped Pyrenees, surmounted by the lofty peak of Mont Canigou, come
into view, bounding the prospect to the south, and pointing to the
vicinity of the Spanish frontier. The language and architecture of the
province also emphasise its Spanish character.
PERPIGNAN, which stands near the rapid river Tet, has many points which
distinguish it from the towns we have just passed further north. A
prominent feature of the architecture, doubtless Moorish in origin, is
the enormous size of the voussoirs of the arches. In one old building,
called the Bourse, the voussoirs of the circular arch of the doorway are
quite 6 feet in length. Numerous fragments of this peculiar style, and
of walls built with the herring-bone work characteristic of the country,
are to be met with in the town, but there are no really good and
complete specimens. Some of the interior courtyards, with their wooden
balconies, are very foreign looking and picturesque examples of the
Spanish influence.
The castellet (Fig. 104) which defends the gate of the city close to the
river, has quite a different aspect from that of French castellated
work. It is entirely built in brickwork, even the great corbels of the
parapet being of that material. This small castle was erected by Charles
V., and formed the original gateway of the town. It consists of two
nearly round towers, with projecting circular turrets on their faces,
and a double curtain wall between, through which the double gates no
doubt formerly passed. The structure is surmounted with an octagonal
tower, having a boldly overhanging parapet, which recalls the military
architecture of the North of Italy, as exhibited in buildings such as
the Badia at Florence and the Castle of Ferrara. The inner archway with
its enormous voussoirs still exists. The gateway now in use adjoins the
castellet on the east side (on the left in the sketch), and is provided
with a drawbridge. This was probably erected when the system of
fortification was altered, and the outer works shewn in the sketch and
containing embrasures for cannons were erected.
In the Cathedral of St Jean (Fig. 105) we have a very characteristic
example of the Southern style. It consists, as usual, of one great hall
or nave, without side aisles, and with a series of lofty chapels,
between the buttresses, which are thus enclosed within the building.
The church has a vault of fully 60 feet in width, and
[Illustration: FIG. 104. THE CASTELLET, PERPIGNAN.]
[Illustration: FIG. 105. CATHEDRAL OF ST JEAN, PERPIGNAN.]
is lightly and boldly spanned with pointed and groined vaulting.
The apse is similar in character to that at Béziers. The vaulting of
this part was completed under Charles V., and indicates its late date by
its interpenetrating ribs. There is almost no ornament, the architects
of the time giving their attention chiefly to the scientific
construction of their edifices. St Jean was founded by Sancho II., King
of Majorca, in 1324. This was long before Roussillon came under the
direct influence of France, which only took place under Louis XI. The
style of the building is thus not affected by the importation of the
style of the North, as at Narbonne, except as regards the vaulting,
which is of a much later period. Some relics of a more ancient Church of
St Jean (le Vieux) adjoin the cathedral, and contain some interesting
Romanesque work. St Jacques (thirteenth century) has a remarkable tower,
and the ruins of the Dominican convent and church contain good
cloisters, two sides being Romanesque, and the others fourteenth century
work, with caps bearing shields, etc.
The citadel, which occupies the site of the castle of the kings of
Minorca is now a powerful fortress, _a la Vauban_. It contains the ruins
of an ancient church with a doorway, the voussoirs of which are large,
and composed of alternate red and white stone in the style of Catalonia.
A very interesting and agreeable excursion may be made from Perpignan to
Elne, a few miles further south.
ELNE, IN ROUSSILLON, stands on a height in the midst of the great plain
which extends to the base of the Pyrenees near the frontier of Spain,
and is a town of great antiquity. It was in ancient times a seaport, but
is now separated from the sea by a wide and level expanse of country.
Elne, or as it was anciently called, Illiberris, was a Celtic city
before it was frequented by the Phœnicians as one of their ports. The
first Phœnician colony was destroyed before we have any detailed history
of the country. It was rebuilt by the Illiberians, and again ruined.
Once more restored by Constantine the Great, it continued, so long as
its connection with the sea lasted, an opulent and populous place. But
when, through the silting up of the water-way, it ceased to be a
seaport, its prosperity departed, and the town has gradually declined,
till it is now reduced to a mere village perched on the top of a rock.
Constantine gave it the title of Castrum Helenæ, whence its present name
is derived.
In 1285 and 1474 Elne was again besieged and destroyed. These events
helped to hasten its decay, and finally its Bishop’s See, which had
existed from the fifth century, was removed to Perpignan in 1602. Some
portions of the ancient walls, built with the herring-bone work so
common in this district, have not yet entirely crumbled away, and the
town is still entered through a pointed gateway (Fig. 106) built with
white marble, the passage through which is provided with a portcullis
groove.
The ancient church occupies the highest part of the rocky site. It is
very plain externally and shews the marks of many alterations. The
cathedral had been twice built in the plain, but was destroyed by the
Saracens. This led the Bishop Béranger in 1019 to transfer it to its
present securer site within the walls of the castle. The existing
structure is of the twelfth century. The masonry is roughly built,
partly with herring-bone work, and in some cases the arches of the
windows are distinguished with dark-coloured stones. The interior is
divided into a nave and two aisles, the tunnel vault of the nave being
pointed and strengthened with round transverse ribs. The side aisles are
vaulted with a half arch thrown against the walls of the nave like a
continuous flying buttress. The vaults next the west end have, however,
been reconstructed with cross ribs, a restoration probably of the
fourteenth century. The whole of the work is of the simplest character
and almost without ornament.
[Illustration: FIG. 106. MARBLE GATEWAY, ELNE.]
At the east end (Fig. 107) the ancient apse with its circular arcade is
visible, rising above the foundations of a larger choir which was begun
in the sixteenth century, but still stands unfinished, the works having
evidently been interrupted before they had reached the height of 10 feet
from the ground. The new choir is designed on the plan of a Northern
“chevet” or apsidal east end, with radiating chapels. The campanile is
noteworthy as a design of that class of edifices closely imitated from
those of Italy.
[Illustration: FIG. 107. ELNE CATHEDRAL]
But the most truly attractive and remarkable part of the antiquities of
Elne is the beautiful cloister (Fig. 108), which, fortunately, is still
complete and in fine preservation. Each side of the enclosure has,
besides the angle piers, three intermediate square piers, the spaces
between them being each divided into a triple arcade, supported on
coupled columns, the shafts of which are ornamented with all kinds of
twists and foliated decoration. The whole is executed in white marble,
and finished with great delicacy, forming the richest example remaining
of this class of cloister, of which so many fine specimens occur in the
South. The work is of various periods, from the twelfth to the
fourteenth century. The oldest portions exhibit, in their ornament, a
strong Byzantine feeling, which the artists of the later periods have
endeavoured to imitate in the portions of the cloisters subsequently
built. The shafts and caps of the later columns are as richly carved as
the older ones, but they are covered with ornament of a much less
conventional character, and more in the style of the natural foliage
universally employed in the North in the fourteenth century. To a later
period also belong the groined and ribbed vaults with which the cloister
is roofed, and the corbels in the walls from which the ribs spring and
which are formed as panels containing figure subjects finely executed.
The doorway from the cloister into the church is pointed, and has
voussoirs of white and red marble alternating--a style of decoration
very usual in the South, and which may perhaps be the result of the
proximity to the Moors in Spain.
Several interesting bas-reliefs and other ancient fragments have been
preserved by being built into the walls.
CARCASSONNE.--An architectural description of the edifices of Provence
and the Riviera would be incomplete without some account of the two most
perfect examples of
[Illustration: FIG. 108. CLOISTERS AT ELNE.]
Mediæval castellated architecture which still exist in the towns of
Carcassonne and Aigues Mortes. These are, from their excellent state of
preservation, quite unique, and far surpass in extent and interest the
remains of the fortifications of any of the other cities of Western
Europe.
The town of Carcassonne is situated on the river Aude, which is spanned
by two bridges, one of them dating from 1184. The portion on the left or
north bank was a “bastide,” or detached town, laid out in the time of St
Louis; the streets being all drawn at right angles, as was usual in the
towns then erected on new sites. Such were the numerous _villes-neuves_
constructed by Edward III. in the South-west of France, and which he
endowed with certain privileges, in order to induce men to settle in
them, and thus increase the population and strength of the country.
[Illustration: FIG. 109. CARCASSONNE.]
The ancient _cité_ of Carcassonne stands on the summit of a hill on the
right bank of the river. It is still surrounded by its double wall of
enceinte, studded with round and square towers, and dominated by the
masses of the ancient castle, which rise boldly above the steep and
rocky hillside, and present a sight as novel and picturesque as can well
be imagined (Fig. 109). The site is naturally a strong one, and was
doubtless occupied from a very early period as a primitive fortress. It
afterwards became a Roman town, and was surrounded by the Romans with
walls.
The Visigoths, who were absorbed into the native population and
continued the Roman civilisation, rebuilt the walls, some of which still
survive, apparently on the Roman foundations and after the Roman manner.
The Roman system of fortification consisted in erecting two walls to
form an outer and inner face, the space between which was filled up with
earth and stones. The level of the ground on the inside of the fortress
was kept much higher than that on the exterior, and a broad parapet
walk, easily accessible from the interior level, ran round the top of
the wall, and was protected towards the outside with a parapet.
At Carcassonne the more ancient parts of the curtains are composed of
two walls built with small cubic masonry, alternating with courses of
thin bricks (Fig. 110), the central space being, however, filled, not
with earth, but with rubble masonry and mortar. The level of the ground
is much higher next the town than towards the exterior.