Hauts Lieux›The great stories

Dragons and saints: the vanquished beast that makes the town (c. 576 to the present day)

18 min read

From the Life of Saint Marcellus of Paris by Fortunatus (c. 576) and the serpents of Metz in Paul the Deacon (c. 784) to the effigies and festivals of today: Golden Legend (c. 1261), Gargouille of Rouen (1394), Grand’Goule of Poitiers (late 15th century, 1677), games of Tarascon (1469 or 1474, 1891-1946), UNESCO inscription (2008)

In Tarascon, Metz, Poitiers and Rouen, a saint masters a monster, and the town keeps a festival from it. Yet the texts are much later than the saints: a serpent in Paul the Deacon c. 784, a dragon in Voragine c. 1261, a Grand’Goule painted at the end of the 15th century. Historians read in it paganism vanquished, a force of nature that had to be mastered, or the memory of floods. This route links the effigies, crypts and museums that remain, from the Tarasque to the Graoully. Along the way, it untangles what is attested from what tradition tells.