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Notre-Dame des Olieux Church of Narbonne dans l'Aude

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine religieux
Eglise
Aude

Notre-Dame des Olieux Church of Narbonne

    Domaine des Monges
    11100 Narbonne
Église Notre-Dame des Olieux de Narbonne
Église Notre-Dame des Olieux de Narbonne
Crédit photo : Lothur - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1204
Foundation of the Abbey
1393
Invasions of looters
1574
Religious disorders
1614
Final withdrawal
1804
Post-revolutionary changes
1951
Historical Monument
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The former church: inscription by decree of 12 February 1951

Key figures

Prieur de Fontfroide - Religious rival Trying to seize the monastery around 1600.
Propriétaire négrier (anonyme) - Revolutionary buyer Modified the church in 1804.

Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame des Olieux is the last vestige of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1204 near Narbonne. This monastery, which flourished in the 13th century, was abandoned in 1614 after centuries of unrest, including the invasions of looters in 1393 and the religious conflicts of 1574. The nuns, who were initially refugees in the city, finally left the place because of the ruin of the buildings, transforming the estate into a simple farmhouse called the Monges barn.

At the Revolution, the property was acquired by a slave who changed the church in 1804, removing a span and adding a fence wall. The building, typical of Cistercian architecture with its bedside illuminated by three windows (trinitarian symbol), retains a vaulted nave on warheads and carved capitals. The 19th century additions include buildings surrounding the west entrance and an internal separation through a transverse wall.

Classified as a Historic Monument in 1951, the church illustrates both the Cistercian rigor and the upheavals suffered by the southern abbeys, between wars, abandonment and lay reuse. Its rectangular plan and Gothic details make it a rare witness to this religious heritage in Occitanie.

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