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Origin and history

La croix de Marquein is a 13th-century discoidal stele, located in the village of the same name, in the department of Aude. It is distinguished by its twelve circles evoking the cross of Toulouse with twelve cheekbones, although its iconography is more reminiscent of the ancient weapons of the Counts of Toulouse: a cross confined to besans (circles), rather than the cliché and cheekbone adopted later. The stele, making a block with its pyramid trunk base, presents distinct sculptures on its two sides: a triangular instrument surrounded by cross-trenched to the north, and a Greek cross with twelve besans to the south, with hollow crosses marking the diagonals.

The cross has been listed as historical monuments since November 29, 1948, as a protected element at the southern corner of the wall of Marquein Cemetery. Its exact location, although specified by an approximate address (1 Church Street), remains subject to a cartographic accuracy deemed mediocre (level 5/10). This monument illustrates the influence of the Toulouse Comtal symbols in the region, where representations of the Occitan cross on steles are frequent. Its style and motifs suggest an origin linked to the late 12th or 13th century, a period marked by the peak of power of the Counts of Toulouse in Languedoc.

Marquein's stele, owned by the commune, bears witness to medieval artistic and funeral practices in Occitanie. Discoidal steles, often associated with burials or gathering places, served as symbolic markers in public or religious space. Their iconography, mixing Christian motifs and seigneurial emblems, reflects the close links between political power and religious expression at that time. The Marquein Cross, by its inscription in historical monuments, is a preserved example of this lapidary regional heritage.

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