St-Gilles

The sleepy little town of St-Gilles (pop. 11,000) was once one of the busiest pilgrimage sites in Europe.  Christians came from near and far to venerate the remains of St-Gilles and to begin their long walk to St Iago de Compostela in northwest Spain.  The town, lying close to the mouth of the Rhone, was a bustling port for exotic goods arriving from the East and for crusaders setting off for the Holy Land. 

The center of the town was the vast abbey of St-Gilles, a beautiful 11th-12th century church that was severely damaged during the wars of religion.  Today, it is best known for the west facade preserving delicately carved scenes from the Old Testament, the life of Christ, the twelve apostles, and various allegorical images of animals.  The underground crypt is also spectacular, containing the tombs of St Gilles and the papal legate Peter Castenau,whose assassination in 1208 triggered the papal crusade against the Albigensians throughout the south of France.

The legend of St Gilles asserts that the 8th-century Greek Christian gave all his money to the poor and sailed to Provence on a rudderless raft. A rich nobleman was hunting a deer and shot at it, but St Gilles plucked the arrow from the air and saved the deer. The nobleman was so impressed that he gave his fortune to endow a new abbey on the spot.  St Gilles traveled to Rome to gain papal recognition for the abbey, and the pope donated two doors for the structure. Gilles launched the doors on the Tiber, when they floated out through the Mediterranean Sea and landed at the very time and place when Gilles returned home.

The church was largely demolished during the wars of religion, and its priests and choirboys were cast down into a 30' deep well in the crypt that one can still see.  The church interior was rebuilt, but the impressive crypt and beautiful facade survived.
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