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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Étienne de Mas-Cabardès, located in the department of Aude in the Occitanie region, has its origins in the 12th century, although the current building dates mainly from the 16th century. It is said to have been built on the site of a former Benedictine monastery, Saint-Étienne de Cabaret, mentioned in the writings from the ninth century. This place of worship thus embodies a thousand-year-old religious continuity in the Cabardès region, marked by an early monastic presence.

The octagonal bell tower, the oldest element of the building, rests on a square base and has a double row of groovy openings, characteristic of a late Romanesque style. It was listed as historic monuments in 1926, highlighting its heritage value. The columns and archvolts of the twin-cut stone bays suggest re-uses of older remains, while bow-buttons support the west wall, showing subsequent architectural adaptations. A rectangular tower, with a screw staircase, is attached to it, reinforcing its defensive aspect.

Inside the church houses several remarkable works, reflecting various periods. In the Notre-Dame-de-la-Barthe chapel, a statue of the Virgin dating from the late 15th century is next to a 16th century altarpiece and a vault with liernes and thirdons. The nave preserves a tombstone of the priest Raymond Baron, engraved with a moral epitaph by prior Pierre Grassi, while the chapel Saint-Roch exhibits a marble altar of Caunes and an 18th century golden wooden tabernacle. An anonymous painting of the 17th century, representing the stoning of St Stephen, adorns the bottom of the building.

The church carillon, composed of ten bells (two from 1857, seven from 1884 and one from 1984), has played a central role in community life for centuries. As early as 1594, archives attest to the purchase of a bell by the Mas community, illustrating its roots in local traditions. This carillon, rhythmic mass, weddings and burials, is an intangible heritage as precious as the stones of the building.

The Saint-Étienne church, with its composite architecture and artistic riches, embodies both the medieval heritage of the Cabardès and the stylistic evolutions from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Its bell tower, symbol of the persistence of the sacred in the landscape, and its defensive elements also recall the historical tensions of this border region between Occitan and royal influences.

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