Page 478 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

EXPERIENCE Languedoc and Roussillon The ancient stone cloisters

of the abbey of St-Michel-
de-Cuxa, near Prades

EXPERIENCE MORE

jagged spur of rock, this abbey
4 "' is only accessible by under- 5 "
St-Martin-du-Canigou taking a 40-minute climb on St-Michel-de-Cuxa
foot from Casteil. To reach
! D7 ⌂ Casteil # Only via the start of the walk, take the ! D7 ⌂ Rte de Tourinya
guided 1-hour tours; hours Codalet, Prades, Pyrénées-
vary, check website ¢ Jan, special shuttle that runs daily Orientales # Apr–Sep:
Good Friday ∑ stmartin- from July to August, or hire 9:30–11:50am & 2–6pm
ducanigou.org a taxi. daily; Oct–Mar: 2–5pm daily
Built at the be gin ning of the ¢ 1 Jan, Easter Sunday, 25
St-Martin-du-Canigou occupies 11th century, the abbey was Dec ∑ abbaye-cuxa.com
a spectacularly remote site a financed by Guifred, Count
third of the way up the Pic du of Cerdagne, who entered The small, pink marble town
Canigou. Perched atop a the monastery during 1035. of Prades, in the Têt Valley, is
He was buried there 14 years dis tin guished by this pre-
later in a tomb that he had Romanesque abbey, which
carved from the rock himself, lies 3 km (2 miles) further up
and which can still be seen. the valley. It was founded by
The early Roman esque church Bene dictine monks in 878
is based on a simple basilican and rapidly became re nowned
plan. Two churches are built throughout France and
quite liter ally one on top of Spain. Distinctive, Moorish-
the other, which makes the influenced key hole arches
lower church the crypt for pierce the massive walls of
the building above. the abbey church, which was
The abbey complex is best consecrated in 974. The mot-
viewed from above, by con- tled pink marble cloisters,
tinuing up the path. From this with their superbly carved
vantage point, its irregular capitals, were added in the
design, clinging to the rock, 12th century. After the
is dramatically framed by the Revolution the building was
isolated mountain setting, abandoned, and its famous
the whole ensemble a fitting carvings looted.
St-Martin-du-Canigou tribute to the ingenuity and In 1913, visiting American
abbey, perched high up in extraordinary vitality of its artist George Grey Bernard
the Pyrénées Orientales early builders. began to discover some of the
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