Paris1972-Versailles2003

In telling you about Toulouse, I will come across some valuable historical and archictecurally stunning buildings I will mentioned and some that were closed when in town but worth the mention and souvenir. Toulouse is a great city that needs at least 3 days to see all. We spent 5 and still left out some…

Today, I will briefly mention the bells of the Cordeliers Church in this post, now in ruins. The Clocher des Cordeliers.

The Cordeliers Church is the former Church of the Cordeliers convent. It closed after a fire in 1798, then was occupied by the military administration until 1871 when it is devastated by a new fire. It was then in ruins as of today.

The Friars Minor of the Order of Saint Francis, called Franciscans or Cordeliers, settled in Toulouse in 1222. From the 13C to the 15C, they built their convent in the space between the current streets of rue des Lois, rue du Collège de Foix, rue Albert-Lautmann and rue Deville. It was after the Saint-Sernin Basilica the largest church in Toulouse, and which had the highest arch 25 meters.

The church, dedicated to the Virgin, with Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Louis of Anjou, bishop of Toulouse, as secondary patrons, was built at the beginning of the 14C. It was 86 meters long and 26 m wide. The height from the ground to the gable was 30 meters.

In 1794, during the French revolution , the convent was sold as national property. The spire of the steeple was demolished, and in 1834 a Chappe telegraph station on the Toulouse-Bayonne line was established. The buildings serve as a prison. In 1818, the convent fell to the military administration which made it a store of fodder for horses, mainly in the large nave of the church. It can store more than 9000 quintals of fodder, and as many of oats.

Today, only the bell tower and the departure of the arches from the reconstructed south portal of the church, still visible on the rue du Collège de Foix, remain from the church. The chapter house and the sacristy have been preserved from destruction. Elements of sculpture, capitals, keystones, etc. have been recovered, in particular by Alexandre Du Mège, and grouped at the Musée des Augustins, including a series of fifteen very beautiful gargoyles kept in the cloister. The Paul-Dupuy museum preserves an altar facing the Cordeliers church, one of the rare textile masterpieces that have survived to the present day.

Of course no official webpage in tourist office but in my favorite Yelp page there is some info and location. Hope it makes you take your feet around this wonderful area of Toulouse.

Yelp on the Clocher des Cordeliers Toulouse

Again, enjoy the pink city of Toulouse. We always do…And remember, happy travels, good health and many cheers to all!!!

And continuing with the off the beaten path notion, I came along walking the wonderful streets of Toulouse with the nice monument of the former church of St Pierre des Cuisines, today an entertainment auditorium center.

I like to tell you a bit on it and worth a detour indeed.

The Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines church, located at rue de la Boule, next to Place Saint-Pierre is the oldest church in southwest France!!!. It is built on an old Gallo-Roman necropolis of the 4C. It is now placed under the responsibility of the Saint-Raymond museum. Today, it houses a 400-seat auditorium for the Toulouse regional conservatory.

The original church was built in the 5C on a necropolis. In the 10C, Count William IV allowed the Benedictines of Moissac Abbey to take possession of it. It was only a priory which was entrusted five centuries later to the Carthusians. Meanwhile, the church is adorned with a new nave and a new choir.

The name Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines comes from a French version of Coquinis, designating small craftsmen. History tells that fishermen in the region once honored Saint Peter by dedicating a priory to him. The name of these Coquins from the Gallo-Roman era was therefore assigned by Guilhem IV to the building when he entrusted it to the Abbey of Moissac. The church contains an archaeological crypt presenting the remains of a 4C early Christian basilica and a pre-Romanesque church. In the 11C, the church was donated to the Abbey of Moissac by the Count of Toulouse. From the 12C, the church was a high public place. In 1189, Count Raymond V of Toulouse recognized the privileges of the Commune of Toulouse, headed by capitouls. This gesture was renewed by Raymond VI of Toulouse in 1195, and by Raymond VII of Toulouse in 1222.

This is where Simon de Montfort signed the Toulouse surrender. It is also within these walls that the counts took the habit of gathering the people of Toulouse. In 1286, the Customs of the city were officially promulgated there. In the 16C, the church became the property of the Carthusians. During the French revolution, Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines suffered the same fate as the Jacobins church and the Daurade basilica. The army took possession of the place and used it to melt cannons, and as a warehouse. The parish is transferred to the Chartreux church which then takes the name of Saint-Pierre-des-Chartreux (see previous post).

The proximity of the place to the premises of the National Conservatory of Toulouse Region made it an auditorium for this establishment (for the old church), but also, for the surrounding premises, a dance school attached to the Conservatory which houses several dance halls.

Some webpages to help you plan your trip here and why not if time allowed even see an event at the auditorium are

Tourist office of Toulouse on the Auditorium at the Church

Museuml of St Raymond on the Church funerary relics in French

Another awesome monument to see in the pretty pink city of Toulouse. And do walk to find these wonders of our world, even today the building is more a church than an auditorium looking. Enjoy it

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

So let’s go into the off the beaten path trails of my beautiful pink city of Toulouse. As said we do a lot of walking here as usual for us once in town. And each time we come up with new monuments to see of a never ending showcase of my belle France. And even thus have passed by this Church before never paid attention until now.

Let me tell you very briefly on the Church of St Pierre des Chartreux in Toulouse. As we were walking by and dwell on its history a bit.

The Saint-Pierre des Chartreux Church is located on rue Valade, near Place Saint-Pierre. It owes its name to the monastic community of the Carthusians who built it at the start of the 17C. Construction of the church began in 1602: the Chartreux brothers, driven out of Saïx (near Castres) by the Protestants, decided to build a monastery sheltered from the walls of Toulouse. After the fall of the first dome in 1609, the building was raised. The Church of St Peter of the Carthusians was consecrated by Cardinal François de Sourdis on May 20, 1612. After the French revolution, the monks were driven out and the convent was transformed into an arsenal. All that remains today is the church, the old pharmacy, elements of the hotel industry ,and part of the cloister.

The large central nave of the Church of St Pierre des Chartreux has the particularity of being divided into two parts, separated by a double-sided high altar. On each side of the nave of the faithful are three dedicated chapels on the left to the souls of Purgatory, to the Sacred Heart, to Our Lady of the Rosary, and to the right the baptismal chapel, to Our Lady of Sorrows and finally to Saint Peter. The pulpit dates from the 18C and was transported from the Saint-Pierre des Cuisines Church in the French revolution. Its iconography (the hull of a boat sailing on a globe, now disappeared but with an outline still visible) is particularly evocative of Saint Peter.

The Church St Pierre des Chartreux Choir is made up of 62 carved stalls dating from the 17C, and is closed by a grid from the same period. Finally, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which opens under the organ gallery, presents an exceptional set of wood carvings in the 17C. The grandstand organ, with its magnificent buffet, has 51 stops and comes from the convent of the Jacobins from which it was transferred in 1792. There is also a small choir organ, built in the 19C. The old cloister now forms a green space within the Toulouse 1 Capitole University.

In all a very nice architectural building and with a nice history to it. One nice detour while walking the streets of Toulouse! Hope you enjoy it

Some webpages to help you plan your trip here are

Tourist office of Toulouse on the Church St Pierre des Chartreux

As it serves today as the student church of the university complex of Toulouse, here is the Catholic site.  Toulouse Student Catholics webpage in French

And voilà another dandy monument in quant Toulouse! Enjoy the walks…. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!