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Origin and history

The church of Saint Vincent de Carcassonne, located in the bastide of Saint Louis, was built after the destruction in 1240 of the former churches of Saint Vincent and Saint Michael, shaved during the reprisals following the attempt of Raimond II Trencavel to take over the City. In 1247 Saint Louis ordered the construction of a new village on the left bank of the Aude, where two parishes were established: Saint-Michel to the south and Saint-Vincent to the north. The present church, originally built of precarious materials, was allowed to enlarge in 1308 by Philip IV, who offered four domunculas for its reconstruction.

The works began exceptionally with the western facade and the nave in the 1320s, following a southern Gothic plan, while the choir was only completed at the end of the 14th century. The 54-metre high bell tower served as a watchtower during the religious wars (XVI century) and was damaged by gunfire. In 1794, the church was transformed into a revolutionary foundry to make artillery blinds, before being restored to worship in 1795 under popular pressure. A broken door to the axe during the 1905 inventory, opposing parishioners and state, became a symbol of local resistance.

Ranked as a Historic Monument in 1907, the church is distinguished by its unique nave of 20.15 m (the widest of France until the 19th century), its apse bedside, flanked by absidioles, and its 18th century organ classified in 1984. The bell tower, a geodetic point used by Cassini for his map of France (18th century) and by Méchain/Delambre to measure the terrestrial meridian (1798), houses a carillon of 54 bells, 10th of France. Major restorations, initiated in 2008, preserved his stained glass, sculptures and paintings, including works by Jacques Gamelin and Pierre Subleyras.

The building, owned by the city, illustrates Carcassonne's turbulent history: religious conflicts, industrial revolutions and heritage. His treasure includes a master altar in polychrome marble (1773), a 17th-century lutrin by Jean-Jacques Melair, and nine paintings by Gamelin. Personalities such as Baron Peyrusse (Treasurer of Napoleon I) or Abbé Cazaux (curé and historian) are linked to this, emphasizing his central role in the social and spiritual life of the city.

Architecturally, Saint-Vincent blends gothic radiating (Western portail, 1320) and flamboyant (bedside windows, 15th century). The nave, originally carpented, was vaulted in 1753 after the construction of the organ stand (1737). The lateral chapels (6 in the north, 7 in the south) and the sacristies follow the original 14th century plan. The facade, decorated with statues of St Vincent and St Louis, dominates a parvis where Abbé Cazaux led a hunger strike in 1991 to defend the visibility of the monument.

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