Rabastens is a magnificent red-brick town... not unlike Toulouse, with which it has close ties thanks to the wine and woad trade. The barges sailed down the Tarn, a veritable commercial highway, serving the ports along the Garonne. Their cargoes were then distributed throughout Europe.
Remaining loyal to the Counts of Toulouse, Rabastens was forced to abandon its military role in 1229 in accordance with the Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the Albigensian Crusade.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, wine and woad merchants, enriched by the boom in trade, took up positions as lawyers and king's advisors to the Toulouse parliament. They built magnificent private mansions that blended in with the more popular houses to create the timeless charm of the town center.
Notre-Dame du bourg...
A former stopover on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, Rabastens is home to the church of Notre-Dame du Bourg, built between 1230 and 1260 by Benedictine monks from Moissac, and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It boasts exceptional wall frescoes dating from the 14th and 15th centuries.
A little history...
After the Catholic Church's Crusade against the Cathars, not much remained of the Rabastens chapel, which was virtually destroyed....
In 1229, the date of the peace treaty, it was decided to build a new parish church. The building was entirely rebuilt in brick, typical of the Southern Gothic style. Only the portal was preserved, with its eight Romanesque capitals.
The heart was added in the 14th century, and completed in June 1318.
The interior of Notre-Dame du Bourg owes its astonishing preservation to an original fact. In the 16th century, during the Wars of Religion, the church was pillaged by Protestants, who turned it into a guardhouse. When the Catholics recovered it, they whitewashed it to purify it! It was only in the 19th century, during a restoration, that the paintings were discovered under the whitewash, and preserved in exceptional condition!
The swastikas painted on the wall often confound visitors; this symbol, similar to the swastika, actually predates it by a long way. An ancient sacred symbol common to many spiritualities and eras, it is synonymous with movement and life.
It was the restoration of these frescoes that led to the church of Notre-Dame du Bourg being declared a Historic Heritage Site in 1899 and, a century later, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago de Compostela.
The church is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Notre Dame du Bourg
12 Rue du Pont del Pa,
81800 Rabastens
Tel.: 05 63 41 83 62
https://www.la-toscane-occitane.com/notre-dame-bourg-rabastens
https://www.youtube.com/embed/DkpKO8Vjud8?si=VBlaHnWexz51rZ0U
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