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    Rodez Cathedral (Aveyron), the tallest flat-topped bell tower in France Russian church near Sylvanès (Aveyron) The church of St-Jacques in Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne), with its canon-ball pockmarks Chagall stained-glass window, Moissac Abbey Church (Tarn-et-Garonne) Peregrine falcons at the top of Albi Cathedral (Tarn)

    Unusual anecdotes about our churches

    These amusing and unusual stories from behind the doors and stained-glass windows of our churches and cathedrals will add extra interest to your sightseeing.

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      In Aveyron


      Rodez Cathedral : greater than the pyramids!

      Engraved in Latin on the South Tower of Rodez Cathedral is the following exhortation: "Begone, pyramids of Egypt; vanish, marvels of the universe! Let us admire the beauty of this august, holy and hallowed place."
      This inscription was meant to accompany the erection of the second bell tower, which in the end was never built. This statement of impassioned lyricism could just as easily refer to the existing bell tower: built in the Flamboyant Gothic style, the 87-metre-high tower has dominated the town since 1570.
      • Sightseeing in Rodez, a Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées : for more information, click here.

      La Vinzelle Church : a thunderbolt from the blue

      If you are visiting Conques, a Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées, continue for another 15 km to La Vinzelle.
      This village, described as, "a bright pearl set in stone," has a Romanesque church with a freestanding bell tower. The bell tower was built in the 15th century to house La Campana Bella, an enormous bell weighing 1,250 kg. It was originally erected near the church gate, but made such a deafening noise that it disturbed the church services, and so it was that a separate bell tower was built for it.

      Not so long ago, La Campana Bella would be rung whenever a thunderstorm was brewing, since the sound waves it produced were able to chase away the clouds charged with electricity or hail stones, often to the detriment of the neighbouring villages, who complained. However, one day the bell tower was beaten at its own game when it was struck by lightning. The roof was replaced and La Campana Bella still rings to this day, but only on special occasions.

      The Russian church in the woods

      • Not far from Millau (Aveyron), between Sylvanès and Le Fayet (on the D92) lies an unobtrusive curiosity : a Russian Orthodox church built in Kirov, Russia, which was dismantled and brought by train to Sylvanès, where it was rebuilt in 1995.
        This great log construction dominates a hilltop in the forest, pervaded by an atmosphere with a very fitting Caucasian feel to it (accessible on foot and by car).
        www.tourisme-aveyron.com

      In Tarn


      Albi Cathedral : are those angels ?

      They do have wings, but they are not angels.
      In its highest turrets, Albi Cathedral is home to a pair of peregrine falcons that has been nesting in this masterpiece of Southern Gothic architecture since 1988. Today, ornithologists are studying their protégés using cameras.

      • Sightseeing in Albi, a Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées : for more information, click here.

      Lavaur Cathedral : the automaton and the prisoner

      The south façade of Lavaur Cathedral, between Toulouse and Albi, sports a painted-wood jacquemart which marks the passing hours by striking a bell with an axe. It's an extraordinarily long-lived curiosity, since this automaton dates from 1523! Who made it?
      It is said that a prisoner, locked up in the Cathedral's Romanesque tower and forced to ring out the hours, made the jacquemart. Why? Quite simply to trick his captors and escape with his lady love…

      Which bell tower is the tallest ?

      • Dominating Rodez, the Cathedral of Notre Dame has a bell tower that rises to the record height of 87 metres: the tallest flat-topped bell tower in France.

        The runner-up to the title is the Cathedral of Sainte Cécile in Albi, the largest brick cathedral in the world. Its keep-cum-bell tower rises to a height of 78 metres, 9 m taller than the tower of Notre Dame in Paris and 13 m taller than the bell tower of the Basilica of Saint Sernin in Toulouse.

      In Tarn et Garonne


      The Church of Saint Jacques in Montauban: a canon of beauty

      The Toulouse Gothic-style fortified bell tower of the Church of Saint Jacques is pockmarked by cannonballs fired by Louis XIII's army, a striking souvenir of the siege laid to Montauban by the Catholics in 1621 to subdue this Protestant town.
      Over time, the memories faded and the name was applied to a local sweetmeat: the famous "Montauban cannonballs", grilled hazelnuts coated with dark chocolate and sugar. To stock up on this delicious ammunition, head for the sweet shops and boulangeries of Montauban, officially recognised as a "Ville d'Art et d'Histoire".

      • Sightseeing in Montauban: for more information, click here.

      The Abbey of Saint Pierre in Moissac: Chagall's forgotten stained-glass window

      After admiring the cloister in Moissac, one of the most beautiful and best preserved in Europe, step inside the adjoining abbey church, where in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament you will find a little stained-glass window of browns and oranges.
      This rather unobtrusive window is signed by none other than Marc Chagall, who gave this work to the municipality of Moissac in 1960. It is not to be confused with the other stained-glass window opposite it. Made by a master glass artist, it is larger and features blue, pink and yellow.

      • Sightseeing in Moissac, a Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées : for more information, click here.
       
      Project co-financed by the European Union. Europe is partnering Midi-Pyrénées with the European Regional Development Fund.