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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Notre-Dame-du-Bourg de Rabastens, located in the Tarn in Occitanie, finds its origins in the 12th century with the foundation of a Benedictine priory dependent on the Abbey of Moissac. The monks choose this strategic location at the crossroads of the Toulouse-Lyon road and in a fertile plain crossed by the Tarn. The original Romanesque building, damaged during the Albigois Crusade, was rebuilt from the Treaty of Meaux-Paris (1229) in a southern Gothic brick style, retaining only its sculpted Romanesque portal of eight capitals.

The reconstruction spans two centuries, with a rectangular nave vaulted with warheads (20x12m) and a five-sided choir added to the 14th century under the impulse of Prior Bernard de Latour, rector of the University of Toulouse. The lateral chapels, inserted between the foothills without external projection, were built between 1374 and the end of the 15th century. The church was looted during the Wars of Religion (XVI century), where it served as a guard corps, then restored by the Jesuits after 1547, becoming a collegiate church in 1583.

Classified as a historical monument in 1899, the church reveals during restorations in the 19th century (directed by César Daly) 14th century murals, including representations of the life of the Virgin and svastika motifs. In 1998, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a stage on the roads of Santiago de Compostela. His organ, signed Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1866), and paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries (including a retable of the Assumption) bear witness to his rich artistic heritage.

The interior also houses the graves of two members of the family of Puységur: Jean Auguste, bishop and archbishop (diputé to the States General of 1789), and his brother Marie-Jean Hercule, captain of the guards of the future Charles X. The successive restorations revealed fragments of medieval decorations, while the brick structure, typical of the Southern Gothic, and its flamboyant rosette illustrate architectural evolutions between Romanesque and Gothic.

The building, owned by the commune, preserves classified furniture (Palissy base), as anonymous canvases of the 17th and 18th centuries now exhibited at the Museum of the country of rabastinois. Its history reflects the religious and political upheavals of Occitanie, from the crusade of the Albigois to the Revolution, through its role as Jesuit collegiate and its integration into the jacquarian networks.

Future

The Church of Notre-Dame-du-Bourg is one of the 71 monuments as well as 7 portions of paths that have been inscribed since 1998 on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the official title of "Chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle en France".

It was at the edge of one of the 4 classic tracks (Via Turonensis, Via Lemovicensis, Via Podiensis and Via Tolosana). The pilgrims therefore had to make a detour to visit it.

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