Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Two Romanesque Churches

A day trip due south of Carcassonne took Jan, Sue, and Steve to a pair of small Romanesque churches in lovely settings. The first was the abbey of St-Hilaire, where our guide Fabien gave us a tour of the church, cloister, refectory, abbot's lodgings, and the hand-dug cellar where sparkling "blanquette" white wine was first discovered in 1531. The church houses a 12th-century masterpiece, a marble "sarcophagus" carved by the Master of Cabestany.

Our second destination was the rural church of St-Polycarpe, dating from the 11th century. In addition to the beauty of the building itself, the small sanctuary also contains two ancient carved altars and some 12th-century frescoes.
http://picasaweb.google.com/trucknmama/France3#

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