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The Saint-Jacques church
Historic site and monument, Religious heritage, Church
in Montauban
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Along with the Old Bridge, it is the only medieval vestige of the city ...
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Nothing remains of the first church built in the 12th century, which was rebuilt in the following century by the great Montalbanese families, in expiation for their sympathies for the Cathars.
An exemplary monument of southern Gothic architecture, it has a vast single nave vaulted on ribbed vaults, narrow windows, a polygonal apse and a Toulouse-style bell tower.
Transformed during the Wars of Religion into a watchtower (bell tower), saltpeter manufacturing workshop (nave) and fort...Nothing remains of the first church built in the 12th century, which was rebuilt in the following century by the great Montalbanese families, in expiation for their sympathies for the Cathars.
An exemplary monument of southern Gothic architecture, it has a vast single nave vaulted on ribbed vaults, narrow windows, a polygonal apse and a Toulouse-style bell tower.
Transformed during the Wars of Religion into a watchtower (bell tower), saltpeter manufacturing workshop (nave) and fort (choir), the church still bears the impacts of the cannonballs of the siege of 1621 on the façade.
After the Catholic reconquest (1629), Cardinal Richelieu, the king's minister, ordered the ruined parts of the church to be rebuilt identically.
It even became a cathedral for a time (1629-1739), the old one having been destroyed in 1561. Augmented by side portals in the 18th century, its façade received a neo-Romanesque decoration in the 19th century, while the nave and choir were adorned with wall decorations.
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