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Origin and history

The Collège Saint-Étienne de Capestang, located in the Hérault, is a Gothic building that began construction in the 1st quarter of the 14th century. It was erected on the remains of the Romanesque church Saint-Félix of the 11th century, whose west wall remains. The construction site, ambitious, planned one of the largest buildings in the region, but was interrupted after the completion of the choir and the first two spans, due to the plague and lack of funds. Only these parts, with their side chapels, were completed, leaving the church unfinished.

The monument shares architectural similarities with the Cathedral of Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur in Narbonne, suggesting the same masterpiece. The height of the vaults (26.50 m) and the 43-metre bell tower, home to five bells, including a bell of 1867, testify to its initial size. The porch, later added (probably in the 16th century), prolongs the unfinished nave. Ranked a Historical Monument in 1906, the college illustrates the challenges of the major medieval construction sites, marked by health and financial crises.

Romanesque remains, such as the western wall of Saint-Félix, coexist with Gothic elements, including vaulted side chapels and lancet windows. The seven-sided, lower than the nave, and the 1868 stained glass windows complete this hybrid ensemble. The failure of the project, visible in the transept primers, reflects the upheavals of the first half of the 14th century, when the region was hard hit by the black plague and economic difficulties.

The bell tower, 43 metres high, houses a carillon of five bells, four of which are stolen (restored in 2006) and a ringing from 1559. These bells, melted between the 16th and 19th centuries by craftsmen such as Louison or Bishop Amans, highlight the technical and liturgical evolution of the building. Their presence, combined with the diaphragm wall's oculus (with clover and quadrilobes), attests to the artistic and functional richness of the college, despite its incomplete state.

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