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Origin and history

Campo Santo, or former major Seminary of Perpignan, is a 14th century medieval building located in the Eastern Pyrenees. It is the largest medieval cemetery still existing in France, characterized by its galleries of funeral arches. This cloister, initially quadrilateral, now retains only three of its four original galleries, the fourth having been destroyed in 1825 for the construction of a seminary.

The work of the cloister began before 1302, as evidenced by the tombstone of Guillem Jorda, initiator of the work. A decree of King James II of Majorca in 1331 revived the works, disturbed by the construction of the new church of Saint John. The funeral chapel, called Funeraria, dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, was built between 1383 and 1389 thanks to the financing of Pierre Fabre, a local bourgeois. It was used to expose the deceased before their burial, according to a Spanish custom.

The archatures of the cloister, 2.10 to 2.35 metres wide, housed tombs decorated with Latin or Roman inscriptions. The West Gallery was demolished in 1825 by Bishop Jean-François de Saunhac-Belcastel, bishop of Perpignan, to enlarge the seminary, later transformed into a barracks. The walls of the cemetery and the Funeraria Chapel have been classified as Historic Monuments since 1910. This site illustrates the medieval funeral architecture and religious history of Perpignan.

The Campo Santo quadrilateral is about 56 metres away. The archatures, arranged in a third point, originally formed a set of four galleries, three of which remain. The Funeraria Chapel, vaulted with warheads, features cloves carved with foliage and human heads, reflecting southern Gothic art. This monument bears witness to funeral practices and medieval piety in Roussillon.

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