Located half an hour from Toulouse and Albi, the Notre-Dame du Bourg church in Rabastens is a jewel of Occitan Tuscany listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore its exceptional wall frescoes dating from the 14e and 15e centuries and immerse yourself in the history of this emblematic place of pilgrimage on the routes to Santiago de Compostela.
UNESCO World Heritage Site under the Routes of Santiago de Compostela
Rabastens is located on the old road that linked Lyon to Toulouse via Rodez, a route to Santiago de Compostela still used today by pilgrims. At 12e century, the Benedictines of Moissac Abbey founded a large priory in Rabastens in the Bourg district and built a chapel. It must be said that the proximity to the Tarn below, a waterway par excellence, allowed them to export wine to Bordeaux; an argument that could also have counted in the choice of location in addition to the fertility of the alluvial soils.
The Cathar Heresy: From Destruction to Reconstruction
After the Crusade of the Catholic Church against the Cathars, not much remained of the chapel of Rabastens. From 1229, the date of the peace treaty, it was decided to build a new church, this time a parish church. The building was entirely rebuilt in brick, characteristic of the southern Gothic style. Only the portal is preserved with its eight Romanesque capitals.
The choir was added in the 14th century and completed in June 1318 to give the whole building the appearance it has today.
The richness of the interior decoration is breathtaking: red predominates, there is also blue and gold. The shimmering colors catch the visitor unaccustomed to so much warmth and life in a church; the colors of the wall paintings have often faded with time. Here, the wall frescoes are magnificent and moving.
The interior of Notre-Dame du Bourg owes its astonishing preservation to an original fact. In the 16the century, during the wars of religion, the church was pillaged by the Protestants who transformed it into a guardhouse. When the Catholics recovered it, they covered it with lime to purify it! It was not until the 19the, during a restoration, we discover the paintings under the whitewash, then preserved in an exceptional state!
The swastikas painted on the wall often disconcert visitors; this symbol, similar to the swastika, actually predates it; an ancient sacred symbol, common to many spiritualities and many eras, it is synonymous with movement and life.
It was the restoration of these frescoes that earned the Church of Notre-Dame du Bourg a Historic Heritage Site in 1899 and, a century later, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Route of Compostela. The loop is now complete, and you can visit it every day from 8 a.m. to 18 p.m.
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