Sadly we arrived in that witching hour between noon and 2pm in which everything in France is closed. It was 1:30 so we considered waiting, but decided instead to go on to the next one and come back later. We did come back, but 10 minutes before it closed for the night and they wouldn't let me in. Very sad, as the cloister has some great sculptures. We'll just have to return as part of a northern Spain trip someday.
By the time we got to our next destination, which was about a half-hour down a narrow winding road, the weather had stopped cooperating entirely. It was cloudy and grey but also very hot and humid. This was especially unfortunately because the church, called Saint Martin du Canigou, is at the top of a mountain that you have to reach on foot. It felt like hiking in a sauna. But the landscape sure was gorgeous, and the abbey was worth it. We had to visit on a guided tour conducted by a young nun in French, but she spoke slowly enough that I could actually understand some of it, and we were able to take pictures.
This magnificent view from above was not part of the guided tour. With the help of the nice lady in the bookshop (who, surprisingly, was English) we found a steep rocky trail that led up here, past several Danger signs.
2 comments:
I am happy to see so much more of this site than is published. I have been paying more attention to Romanesque sculpture. In the US, sculpture on Richardsonian Romanesque buildings is generally not so primitive or conventionalized as the real McCoy. Much of it seems like it would be more at home on a Gothic building. In as sense, the true Romanesque carving that you show here, while less realistic, is more real - perhaps because it is so stark. Straight communication - none of the niceties. Thanks for making the climbs to show all this.
Thanks, Tim. One day there will be a whole lot more photos of this wonderful abbey published on my website. Romanesque sculpture is indeed unrealistic, and in fact quite cartoonish. But that's what I love about it.
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