The Basilica of Saints

Nazarius and Celsus Nazarius and Celsus ( it, San Nazaro e San Celso) were two martyrs of whom little is known beyond the discovery of their bodies by Ambrose of Milan. According to Paulinus the Deacon's ''Vita Ambrosii'', Ambrose, at some time within the last thr ...

(french: Basilique des Saints Nazaire et Celse) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

located in the citadel of Carcassonne, France. It is a national monument, and is in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

- Romanesque architectural tradition.

History

Visigothic church

The original church is thought to have been constructed in the 6th century during the reign of

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...

, ruler of the Visigoths.

Cathedral of Carcassonne

On 12 June 1096, Pope Urban II visited the town and blessed the building materials for the construction of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

. Construction was completed in the first half of the twelfth century. It was built on the site of a Carolingian cathedral, of which no traces remain. The crypt too, despite its ancient appearance, dates from the new construction. Around the end of the 13th century, during the rule of kings Philip III, Philip IV, and the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s of Pierre de Rochefort and Pierre Rodier, the cathedral was reconstructed in the

style. It remained the cathedral of Carcassonne until 1803, when it lost the title to the present

Carcassonne Cathedral Carcassonne Cathedral (French: ''Cathédrale Saint-Michel de Carcassonne'') is a cathedral and designated national monument in Carcassonne, France. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne. The building was bui ...

(''Cathédrale Saint-Michel de Carcassonne'').

Basilica

The Church of Saints Nazarius and Celsus obtained the status of historical monument in 1840. Around this time, the architect

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. H ...

renovated the church along with the rest of the citadel. In 1898, the church was elevated to a

Architecture

The sandstone basilica's

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

is based on a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

, internally measuring 59 m in total length, 16 m in

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

width, and 36 m along the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

. The oldest part of the church is the Romanesque tripartite nave. The main entrance in its north wall is formed by a Romanesque portal of five receding arches over two doors. A fortress façade forms the west wall, as is common for medieval

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

ian church buildings. The transept and

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

were rebuilt in the Gothic style. The larger windows in this part of the church permit a better illumination compared to the darker romanesque nave. The central stained glass window of the choir from 1280 is one of the oldest ones in the south of France. Together with the upper

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

s (the

Resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...

and the Resurrection of the dead), it depicts the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

in 16 medallions:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carcassonne, Saint Nazaire Former cathedrals in France Basilica churches in France Carcassonne Churches in Aude Monuments historiques of Aude