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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Aventin-de-Larboust, classified as a historical monument since 1840 among the first 1,034 protected sites in France, is a jewel of Pyrenean Romanesque art. Built mainly in the 12th century, it incorporates older elements, such as Gallo-Roman altars dedicated to the Pyrenean god Abellio and funeral cupps re-used in its southern facade. Its architecture combines Lombard influences (bands and archatures) and local, with an asymmetric bedside composed of a semicircular apse flanked by a single apsidiole, covered with slates.

The southern portal, dated the twelfth century, is a sculptural masterpiece: its tympanum depicts Christ in glory surrounded by the tetramorph carried by angels, while its historic capitals illustrate biblical scenes (Marie-Madeleine, the massacre of the Innocents) and the life of Saint Aventin, a local martyr. Inside, the vaulted nave and the collateral houses murals discovered in 1878, dating from the late 12th to early 13th century, as well as traces of 16th century decorations. The choir, raised, retained a wrought iron gate and the tomb of Saint Aventin, whose relics, placed in a Lyon reliquary in 1707, attracted pilgrims.

The building has two distinct bell towers: the western, slender and adorned with friezes (damier, billets), dominates the facade with its geminied bays and carved modillons, while the eastern, more rough, features Y anchors and simple windows. The restorations of the 19th century (sacristy, drying of walls) preserved medieval elements, such as the 12 Gallo-Roman jobs and the external bas-reliefs, including an old-fashioned musician and a Virgin with the Child trampling on fantastic animals. These details bear witness to the cultural and religious importance of the site, linked both to the local cult of Saint Aventin and to the ancient heritage of the Pyrenees.

The church, a communal property, was mentioned in the 10th century as a place of pilgrimage. In the Middle Ages, it depended on the Church of Comminges, as evidenced by the acts of waiving tithes in 1273 and 1278. The paintings of l'abside, representing Saint Aventin and Saint Saturnin (Bishop of Toulouse), were rediscovered in 1876 by Bertrand Bernard. The French Revolution dispersed a part of its furniture, including two wrought iron grills separating the choir from the nave, but the municipality bought the nave. The works of the 19th and 20th centuries (reparation of the bell towers, adaptation of the sacristy) aimed to preserve this exceptional heritage, symbol of religious and artistic continuity in Comminges.

The external sculptures, such as the bas-relief of the discovery of the burial of Saint Aventin by a bull, or the pagan altars dedicated to Abellio, illustrate the superposition of cults and epochs. Inside, the bentier adorned with doves and a lamb, as well as the cross Christ and the relics of the saint, emphasize the spiritual dimension of the place. Recent studies (including those of Elodie Combe in 2000) have enabled us to trace the successive states of the building, revealing its evolution from the 11th century to modern additions, while confirming its central role in the religious and artistic history of the Haute-Garonne.

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