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Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Vabres-l'Abbaye

Vabres-l'Abbaye

Dimensions
In the heart of the village of Vabres-l'Abbaye, place de l'Église, on the right bank of the Dourdou, near Saint-Affrique, in the south of the Aveyron; the former bishop's palace adjoins it
Period
Benedictine abbey founded in 862 by Raymond I, Count of Toulouse; abbey church that became a cathedral in 1317, on the creation of the diocese of Vabres by John XXII; church of the 14th and 15th centuries; ravaged by the Protestants in 1568, partly rebuilt in the 17th century, restored from 1715 to 1718 and refitted in the 18th century; devastated during the Revolution (in 1791 according to Wikipedia and the Parc des Grands Causses, in 1793 according to the English Wikipedia); diocese suppressed in 1790 and attached to Rodez; listed (inscrit) in 1992
What stands there
Founded by monks fleeing the Northmen, the abbey became in 1317 the cathedral of a diocese of one hundred and twenty-eight parishes

In 849 the Northmen plundered the abbey of Paunat; ten monks, led by Abbot Adalgasius, fled and found refuge in the Rouergue. In 862 Raymond I, Count of Toulouse, gave them his lands at Vabres, on the banks of the Dourdou, to found a Benedictine abbey there. It prospered: in 1116 a bull of Pope Paschal II listed its possessions, and in the 12th century it stood at the head of a long string of priories. The turning point came in 1317. Pope John XXII detached from the diocese of Rodez, judged too vast, one hundred and twenty-eight parishes in the south of the present Aveyron and the Causses; the abbot of Vabres became its first bishop and his abbey church the cathedral of Saint-Sauveur. The church to be seen today dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries, but it has suffered greatly. In 1568 the Protestant troops of Jacques de Crussol d'Uzès plundered the monastery and the town and destroyed the cathedral and the bishop's palace; it had to be partly raised again in the 17th century, then restored from 1715 to 1718. The neighbouring bishop's palace, rebuilt in the 18th century, keeps a Louis XV staircase made of two suspended, offset flights. During the Revolution the diocese was suppressed and the cathedral devastated a second time: a band tore out its marble high altar to raise a monument to Marat. It has nevertheless kept its title of cathedral, an 18th-century organ case by Jean-Baptiste Micot and an 18th-century high altar retable.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Vabres-l'Abbaye ↗

Further reading

Getting there : Place de l'Église, in the centre of the village (Aveyron), near Saint-Affrique. Parish church of the diocese of Rodez; opening times and visiting conditions to be checked with the town hall or the tourist office. The ‘chemin des Évêques’, a trail of the Grands Causses regional nature park, links the village to Saint-Izaire, the former summer residence of the bishops.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Vabres-l'Abbaye
GO69 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

In the same department

All places — Aveyron (20).