Routes Santiago de Compostela - La Romieu, collegiale by night

Reference : FR102

POSTCARD AVAILABLE FOR TRADE
Size : 10 x 15 cm

"LA ROMIEU (Gers)
Classée au Patrimoine Mondial de l'Humanité
Ancienne ville écclésiastique ceinte de murailles et de fossés,
place centrale à arcades et belles maisons.
La collégiale remonte à Arnaud d'Aux, camérier des papes Clément V et Jean XXII."

Location of the LA ROMIEU in FRANCE :

LA ROMIEU

The name "ROMIEU" derives from the gascon word "ROUMIOU" (referring to pilgrims on their way to Rome). A monk named Albert, returning from a pilgrimage to St Jacques de Compostelle in the 11th century, stayed here and founded a small ecclesiastical community on land belonging to the lords of Firmacon, Viscounts of Lomagne.

In the XIVth century, the village grew in importance when Arnaud d'Aux, a dignitary of the Papal Court who had been born here, built the collegiate church of Saint Pierre and it's cloister in the village (1312-1318).

Cardinal d'Aux changed the Benedictine community into a college of 14 regular canons led by a dean and a sub-dean.

At this time the Cardinal was also the president of the Court of Templars.

Arnaud d'Aux died about 1321 in Avignon. His body now rests in an alcove within the collegiate church.

In 1575, the villageand its surrounding suffered when Montgomery's protestant troops passed through; the cloister was burnt down and the stained glass windows bricked up. During the French Revolution, part of the archives were burnt together with the rood screen. The collegiate church became a parish church.

In present times, the collegiate church and its cloister have been listed as Ancient Monuments since 1901 and have been registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site since 1999, in multiple locations of Routes of Santiago de Compostela, on via Podiensis. The "Tower of the Cardinal", a remnant of the ancien palace has also been listed as an Ancient Monument since 1928.

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Le Puy route

The Le Puy route (Latin : Via Podiensis, French : route du Puy) is travelled by pilgrims starting in or passing through Le Puy-en-Velay. It passes through towns such as Espalion and Cahors before coming to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. It is part of GR 65.

As one of the multiple locations (ID number : 868-050)
of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela, on via Podiensis,
LA ROMIEU is registered on UNESCO w.h.s. list.

UNESCO w.h.s. :
Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

Date of inscription : 1998

Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France, and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription marks out the four routes by which they did so.

Multiple locations list.