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Origin and history

The church of the Jacobins of Narbonne, former Conventual Church of the Dominicans, was rebuilt in the 15th century after the destruction of their first convent during the extension of the city walls in 1514. The current building, measuring 30 meters long, consists of a single nave of three spans and an apse with seven arched sides. The works, interrupted several times, reveal a change of architectural party: the second span shows a draft of vaulting abandoned in favor of an apparent structure on diaphragm arches for the following spans. The carved cloves, decorated with fantastic animals or plant motifs, as well as the capitals of the abside, illustrate a flamboyant late Gothic style. The polygonal bedside is decorated with an armorial arch key, while the warheads are based on lamp-ends characteristic of this period.

Originally founded between 1220 and 1231 according to the sources, the Dominican convent hosted the provincial chapter several times between 1243 and 1296. The early church, completed in 1254, benefited from papal indulgences granted by Alexander IV and served as burial for the vicomtal family of Narbonne. Destroyed in 1514 to allow the construction of the new enclosure, the convent was rebuilt intramural against the priory of Lamourguier, reusing the stones of the old building. A letter from Francis I in 1529 confirmed his existence on that date. In 1790, the convent, then in good condition, was sold as a national property and divided into two private properties. The nave, the side chapels and the sanctuary, sold in 1793, retain remarkable elements such as a vault with liernes and thirdons in the second chapel, or a 19th century staircase leading to a floor in the sanctuary.

The church of the Jacobins, classified as Historical Monument by decree of 19 December 1946, bears witness to the architectural and political developments of Narbonne. Its history reflects the links between Dominicans, called Jacobins in France, and local elites, as well as the upheavals linked to the Revolution. Today, a shared property, it retains traces of successive developments, from carved capitals to structural changes, offering a representative example of late Southern Gothic.

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