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Paradoxplace South West France Photo Galleries Links to French Cathedral and Abbey Photo Pages in Paradoxplace
Inside l'Église St-Hilarion-de-Perse (SE Espalion)
Back to St-Hilarion-de-Perse main page
Link to Maps of the Pilgrimage Roads of France Back to from Aubrac to the River Lot and Conques
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The 10 / 1100s Église St-Hilarion-de-Perse now oversees a cemetery in SE Espalion (it is signposted from the main street). It was once the church of a significant priory on a site where, according to legend, St-Hilarion was beheaded by Saracens in the time of Charlemagne. The priory, which became a daughter house of Conques in 1060, would have had close links with the pilgrims walking the le-Puy / Conques "road" along the nearby Lot (or Olt in the local dialect) river valley, and the church is a beautiful example of local Romanesque monastic sculpture, architecture and local stone. The guidebooks only mention the combat capitals (below), but the inside generally is a beautiful (and partly painted) space, and there's a lot of good stuff outside as well.
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Stoup (holy water basin) inside the old (now disused) south door. The nearby church of St-Jean in Espalion, now a museum, has a famous collection of medieval stoups.
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All original material © Adrian Fletcher 2000-12 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission.
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