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Origin and history

The Church of St Mary of Forty, mentioned in the 10th century under the names Sancta Maria de Vico Quadraginta (902) or Sancta Maria ad Forty (961), was initially linked to a community of regular canons that became abbey. The wills of the Viscounts of Narbonne (Adelaide in 967 and 990, his son Ermengaud in 1005) suggest their role in its foundation. Archbishop Ermengaud made his dedication in 982, followed in 1016 by the consecration of a Saint Martin chapel by the Urban Bishop of Béziers. In 1053, a solemn ceremony brought together three prelates (Guifred de Cerdagne, Bérenger de Béziers, Gontier d'Agde) to consecrate the altars of Saints Dalmace, Laudebert, John the Baptist and Saint Croix.

The present building, built in the 11th and 13th centuries with reshuffles in the 18th century, combines a complex Romanesque plan (three naves, transept, two bell towers) and defensive elements like niches on the southern collateral (15th century). Its 12th century porch, redesigned in classical style, masks a western facade decorated with a cross inscribed in a circle. The lumbar Romanesque bedside, difficult to see, and the 11th century lobes altars (including a decorated high altar) illustrate its artistic importance. Ranked a historical monument in 1907, the church also preserves traces of its abbey past, such as chapels dedicated to local martyrs Dalmace and Laudebert.

The etymology of Forty, often associated with forty Christian martyrs, actually comes from the Latin Caranta ("Salonous River"), designating a nearby river. The abbey, under the authority of the Archbishops of Narbonne, served as a place of prayer for the deceased of the vicomtal family. The architectural transformations (cradle vaults, cupolas on trunks) and the late additions (octogonal arrow of the bell tower) reflect its evolution over almost eight centuries, while preserving major Romanesque elements such as Lombardic bands or curved windows with black basalt extrados.

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