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Origin and history

The Cross of Saint-Yrieix-le-Déjalat is a monumental French granite cross erected between the 14th and 16th centuries. It is distinguished by its rectangular base supported by a three-step staircase, and a diamond medallion decorated with circular feasts. In the centre, a Christ on the cross dominates the Holy Women, while a capital embedded in the base represents a sitting Christ, surrounded by a character holding a censer and a fantastic creature partially visible.

Listed as historical monuments by order of 26 January 1927, this cross is located in the square of the church of Saint-Yrieix-le-Déjalat, in Corrèze (New Aquitaine). His iconography mixes Christian symbols with enigmatic elements, such as the inscription engraved near the scratched wing, whose meaning remains unspecified in the sources. The re-use of a capital, probably from the nearby church, suggests close links between the monument and local history.

The architectural description underscores the singularity of its structure: the staircase not girding the anterior face of the base, and the half-sphere integrated into the wing of the frustrate animal. These details, combined with the overlapping dating (XIVth–XVIth centuries), reflect a stylistic evolution and a possible overlay of periods of construction or modifications. The cross, owned by the commune, remains a material testimony of the religious and artistic practices of the medieval and reborn Limousin.

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