The Church Saint Martin of Moissac !!!

Posted in Europe, France

Several years back while visiting my belle France, took a ride into this area. Just found older pics in my cd rom vault and they should be in my blog for you and me, Not back since but left a nice impression ,and hope to be back, eventually. For the memories of always, I like to tell you a bit about this wonderful old church. Therefore, here is my take on  the Church Saint Martin of Moissac !!!  Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The town of Moissac is located in the department no 82 of Tarn-et-Garonne in the Occitanie region of my belle France. The Tarn river crosses the town and throws itself into the Garonne river in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, after having crossed 98 towns, The town is served by the A62 highway at  7 km from Castelsarrasin, and by the D113 Bordeaux-Marseille road, It is 44 km from Agen, 30 km from Montauban, 71 km from Toulouse, 187 km from Bordeaux, 628 km from Versailles, and 672 km from my current home. The church is located at 2bis, avenue de Gascogne ,from City center walking is about 1 km by car as we were is very easy going out of town on the D813 road.

This medieval Church Saint Martin was built in a former Gallo-Roman bathing establishment whose hypocaust, a floor heating system, 4C was found during archaeological excavations. This modest church is home to little-known treasures. It nearly got destroyed at the beginning of the 20C by the extension of the railway line and the train station. It only owed its last-minute rescue to Armand Viré, Moissac’s first archaeologist, who discovered during excavations in 1922 a set of wall paintings from the end of the 15C telling the story of the life of Christ. It was also Armand Viré who discovered, in 1947, an ancient hypocaust (an underfloor heating system from the ancient era), thus revealing the church’s greatest secret: it was built inside a former private bathing resort from the Gallo-Roman era! Excavated several times and suffering from water infiltration problems through the ground due to the railway line, the is not open to the public. But, but you can take pictures from the windows….

The Church Saint Martin results from the transformation in the 11C of the baths of a Roman Gallo villa from the 3C, the walls of which were re -used, The church is thus one of the oldest in France. It is on an ancient site. The church takes on exactly the plan of a seaside of an ancient villa. The nave coincides with the “frigidarium”, the choir at the meeting of “tepidarium” and “caldarium”. The pools on both sides were destroyed. This seaside had to be built at the beginning of the 4C. For the development in the church, the part is modified by abandoning the hypocaust and destroying the ancient wall which separated the two parts of the choir.

Important developments of the Church Saint Martin were made in the 9C, perhaps linked to the transfer of the relics of Saint Ansbert which would have been the second abbot of the Abbey of Moissac, in 868, The church has been parish from at least the 11C . Part of the bedside was arranged in the 11C and one tomb niche in the 12C. The Notre-Dame Chapel was added at the end of the 15C. It was decorated with a set of paintings representing the life of Christ, as well as the southern wall and a new portal. The porch with a portal was added to the 17C in front of the Gothic portal. The church is sold as a national property during the French revolution. It was bought by the town in 1862 and returned to worship.

The City of Moissac on its heritage/history (see map): https://www.moissac.fr/de-leau-a-la-pierre/

 The local Moissac et Terres des Confluences tourist office on the church: https://www.tourisme-moissac-terresdesconfluences.fr/en/diffusio/patrimoine-culturel/eglise-saint-martin-de-moissac-moissac_TFO5820573

The Tarn et Garonne dept 82 tourist office on the church: https://www.tourisme-tarnetgaronne.fr/en/offers/saint-martin-church-of-moissac-moissac-en-2353840/

There you go folks, another spot in my world map or rather France’s map. Glad to have found the old pictures to give credit to Moissac in my blog; good for the memories of always. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Martin of Moissac as I.

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

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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