Basilica Saint-Sernin

The Saint-Sernin Basilica Toulouse is one of the jewels of the city in terms of heritage.

Listed building from the first list drawn up in 1840 and a World Heritage under the Ways of Saint Jacques, it was built from the eleventh to fourteenth century mainly on the basis of earlier buildings, with the aim original to become a shrine housing the relics of Saint Saturnin, first bishop of the third century Toulouse.

The basilica built of brick and stone is considered the largest Romanesque building in France.

Its high nave of 21 m has a barrel vault based on richly carved capitals (there identifies 260) leading to the chorus and its canopy made of wood gilded and marble. In the transepts ornate, medieval frescoes were affixed.

Inside or in the crypt, reliquaries contain a piece of the true cross, bones of six apostles whose St. Jacques le Majeur, offered by Charlemagne, Bernadette Soubirous and of St. Therese of Lisieux and of course St. Saturninus, the bishop martyred in 250.

The stunning octagonal tower with its balustrade and arrow (rebuilt several times) dates from the thirteenth century, then this place extremely popular pilgrimage becomes the center of an abbey.

If the first restoration took place in the fifteenth century and that work will mark its history, the basilica is the subject of a major renovation project led by Viollet-le-Duc in the second half of the nineteenth century. However, experts judging these rearrangements may be too far from the first appearance, reversals were made in the twentieth century.

Featuring exhibitions and hosting regular concerts, the Basilica Saint-Sernin is a veritable museum of architecture and decorative and sacred art. Its vast proportions and ambulatory allow to freely visit or take guided tours.

Information +33 5 61 21 80 45 or 0,892,180,180.