Vacation Day 4: Albi

Friday took me an hour north (by train) of Toulouse to the last stop on this year's tour of any-and-all-things-medieval, Albi. Continuing on the ever-present theme of the Cathars, the city of Albi played a key role:

Deriving from earlier varieties of gnosticism, Cathar theology found its most spectacular success in the Languedoc and the Cathars were known as Albigensians, either because of an association with the city of Albi, or because the 1176 Church Council which declared the Cathar doctrine heretical was held near Albi. (Wikipedia, on the Albigensian Crusade - ring any bells?)

Upon arriving in the center of the vieille ville, or old city, of Albi, the cathédrale Sainte-Cécile is the center of attention. "Attractive isn't the word - what strikes you most is its sheer mass, rising over town like some Tolkienesque dark lord's tower," describes my Lonely Planet guide. I am unable to accurately convey my impression, awe, disbelief and lack of words... with words, so I give you pictures:

Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile

around the other side, the bell tower

dominating entrance portico

just a mere hint at the interior

the first thing you see inside is the organ

then the painted walls



and the painted ceiling

while holding your breath

then the carved detail of the stone rood screen (to separate the chancel and altar from the nave and congregation)



inside the chancel

The only thing I could think of while looking at all the carved detail was that it looked drippy. Drippy, like when you make a sand castle at the beach and drizzle wet sand over the castle to give it fine details...

More pictures can be found here.