The Red City
Day two of my trip to Toulouse was not actually spent in Toulouse. We took a bus ride over to Albi, which is known as "The Red City" because of their red bricks. (Doesn't this sound familiar? Just wait, there's more deja vu heading you're way.)
We went to a church! This one was also a church that'll really pull your head back and your mouth open as if you were a puppet on a string. Your eyes just go up--a natural response to the head release--and stare stupidly at this massive creation.
That big baby is called La cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d'Albi. It's a whopper. It was built from 1282 to 1380...as in it's so huge that they needed 100 years to build it even with taxing the citizens, receiving money from the pope, and employing god-fearing (seriously god fearing, and probably more so after they saw the paintings inside the church) construction workers to build this church. Unlike the pleasant Romanesque church we'd visited the day before, the church of Albi was meridional Gothic. From my understanding the word "meridional" is like saying it's Gothic light. Like 2% milk instead of whole. To me, though, the inside was full on heavy cream. This place is so intricate and so ornate that its a very overwhelming place to be. The outside preview of the inside Gothicism...
...was just like looking at calcified doilies. It was a little out of character for the rest of the facade, but it was interesting to look at nonetheless. This is some of the inside:
You probably can't tell, but each side of that archway at the bottom of the photo is a scene full of naked people. There are no old people. There are no children. Every person in both of these pictures is at the symbolic age of 33, the age that Christ was when he died. The massive painting on the left shows the people standing strong and tall, carrying light books, which represent sins. On the right, all the people are cowering, kneeling under the weight of their massive books of sins. The people on the left are being admitted to Heaven while the people on the right are being sent straight to Hell. Uplifting, isn't it?
Better still, there are 7 massive panels, each representing different deadly sins, or, rather, what happens to a person when he or she commits one of those deadly sins. I think it's important to emphasize that they really are deadly sins, not really because buying too much jewelry or eating too much chocolate cake will kill you, but because the devils, monsters, and other beasts will come (again, when you're naked) and shove you into a pot of boiling water. This is propaganda at its best, if you ask me. Just get all the most influential and learned people of the age together, all of whom have God on their side, and explain how you will be scared, burned, boiled, and tortured if you do something out of line. Then, this mental image is confirmed on larger-than-life panels painted by some of the most skilled artists of the time. I would have been scared, too!
Somehow, though, everything was lightened by the incredible view we saw from around the outside of the church.
After the tour, we had some lunch, headed back to meet the group, and headed off to Cordes, the second stop of the day.
We went to a church! This one was also a church that'll really pull your head back and your mouth open as if you were a puppet on a string. Your eyes just go up--a natural response to the head release--and stare stupidly at this massive creation.
That big baby is called La cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d'Albi. It's a whopper. It was built from 1282 to 1380...as in it's so huge that they needed 100 years to build it even with taxing the citizens, receiving money from the pope, and employing god-fearing (seriously god fearing, and probably more so after they saw the paintings inside the church) construction workers to build this church. Unlike the pleasant Romanesque church we'd visited the day before, the church of Albi was meridional Gothic. From my understanding the word "meridional" is like saying it's Gothic light. Like 2% milk instead of whole. To me, though, the inside was full on heavy cream. This place is so intricate and so ornate that its a very overwhelming place to be. The outside preview of the inside Gothicism...
...was just like looking at calcified doilies. It was a little out of character for the rest of the facade, but it was interesting to look at nonetheless. This is some of the inside:
You probably can't tell, but each side of that archway at the bottom of the photo is a scene full of naked people. There are no old people. There are no children. Every person in both of these pictures is at the symbolic age of 33, the age that Christ was when he died. The massive painting on the left shows the people standing strong and tall, carrying light books, which represent sins. On the right, all the people are cowering, kneeling under the weight of their massive books of sins. The people on the left are being admitted to Heaven while the people on the right are being sent straight to Hell. Uplifting, isn't it?
Better still, there are 7 massive panels, each representing different deadly sins, or, rather, what happens to a person when he or she commits one of those deadly sins. I think it's important to emphasize that they really are deadly sins, not really because buying too much jewelry or eating too much chocolate cake will kill you, but because the devils, monsters, and other beasts will come (again, when you're naked) and shove you into a pot of boiling water. This is propaganda at its best, if you ask me. Just get all the most influential and learned people of the age together, all of whom have God on their side, and explain how you will be scared, burned, boiled, and tortured if you do something out of line. Then, this mental image is confirmed on larger-than-life panels painted by some of the most skilled artists of the time. I would have been scared, too!
Somehow, though, everything was lightened by the incredible view we saw from around the outside of the church.
After the tour, we had some lunch, headed back to meet the group, and headed off to Cordes, the second stop of the day.
Wow, what a church. And the history is so interesting!!!!! Love all the little details that make a buildig or place even more interesting. The photos are great too...really cool looking church. Keep 'em coming.
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