Montpellier Cathedral - II Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Medieval entrance to the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre.

A stitch of two photographs.

The Cathedral of Saint-Pierre (Saint Peter) in Montpellier was originally the chapel of the Benedictine monastery of St. Benedict, founded in 1364 by Pope Urban V and which now houses the Medical School. The church was raised to a cathedral in 1536, when the Episcopal seat was transferred from Maguelone in Montpellier.

Four towers stand at the corners of the nave, one of which was torn down during the iconoclastic movement of 1567. The building is equipped with important defensive elements, making it a fortress. At the end of the sixteenth century, it was in fact, nicknamed the "Fort Saint-Pierre." One of façades was crowned by machicolations fitted with firing slots, behind which ran a path way inside the thickness of the wall.

The Medieval entrance seen in this image, and which is no longer used, is fronted by a massive porch, consisting of two tusk like cylindrical pillars with a canopy connecting the pillars to provide shelter below.

The above mentioned elements are virtually the only remains of the medieval architecture of the cathedral that can still be observed today.

During the wars of religion, the cathedral was the target of Protestant attacks. On 20 October 1561, after a siege during the night, the mob entered through a breach in the walls of the cathedral where some Catholic dignitaries had taken refuge accompanied by a troop of soldiers. The extent of the massacre that followed varies between 8 and 50 deaths according to reports at the time.

In 1567, the cathedral again suffered an onslaught from Protestants who this time fired cannons on the building. A tower collapsed bringing the whole building down with it.

The building that can be seen today is largely the result of rebuilding work that took place in the 18th century supplemented by enlargements carried out in the following century when the bell tower was also reconstructed.

syd1946, jhm, jlbrthnn, feather, cunejo200, saxo042, amaryllis, dareco, Charo, mikolaj_kawa has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

syd1946 (17965) 2008-08-18 0:50

Hello Stephen,
This is an excellent architectural image well composed in a fitting vertical format.I find also very interesting the informations about the Cathedral.Thanks for sharing this with us...

Have a nice day,
Thomas

chinchini (27805) 2008-08-18 1:14

Salut Stephen,
Ton détail de la cathédrale est très intéressant ainsi que ta longue note.
Je me suis intéressé aussi à corriger rapidement les fortes déformations de l'image car je ne ne pense pas qu'elles soient naturelles.
Excellente journée mon Ami
Pierre

[workshop] [compare]

Nicou (45711) 2008-08-18 1:52

Hello,

Quel beau dàtail, cette tour, avec son châpeau pointu est superbe, on dirait qu'elle mpenche et fait un rond, très belle vue sous l'arche, superbe.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

jhm (83328) 2008-08-18 2:51

Hello Stephen,

Very well done the two pictures stitching without mistakes.
Thank you very much for the interesting note.
Nice composition and excellent with the through look to the background.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Sanderson-Brown (1697) 2008-08-18 2:58

Hi Stephen,
a little squint!? but still beautiful, hope the tower stays standing for a long time. such a rich blue sky! well composed.
tfs
regards
paul

UnTrained (0) 2008-08-18 5:00

Hello Stephen,
I like the POV showing facade balanced by this tower and both in good contrasts against the sky. The tower is not straight, but I believe this is not from your stitch but natural.
Good blue sky.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

jlbrthnn (38927) 2008-08-18 5:36

Bonjour Stephen,
Tu prends plaisir à détailler cette cathédrale. Le porche méritait bien une image, car il est plutôt particulier, sans être une réussite architecturale. Bon travail intéressant.
Bonne journée
Cordialement
Joël

feather (50144) 2008-08-18 6:19

I like the narrow vertical framing on this. You have managed the strong light well. Is the tower on the right curved with age or as a result of the stitch? The WS has done a great job to straighten it out.
Kath

rodgerg (24973) 2008-08-18 7:08

Bonjour Stephen,

Un POV bien choisi qui donne un cadrage de pierre sur les maisons à l'arrière-plan Une belle unité de ton mise en valeur par la lumière bien captée.
Amicalement,
Roger

cunejo200 (7243) 2008-08-18 7:57

The sky is heavenly blue and the towering pillar is well placed in the composition Stephen. Well done
Danilo

jurek1951 (26144) 2008-08-18 9:37

Hi Stephen,
Excellent shot of architecture! amazing light and contrast with darkly blue sky. Perfect quality and perspective. Great work,
Georg

saxo042 (16266) 2008-08-18 11:15

Hi Stephen,
Interesting building, looks like a very expensive shelter for those below! But always with a very good note, this is really the meaning of TE, one can always learn something new!
Greetings from Gothenburg
Gunnar

Fis2 (46395) 2008-08-18 11:29

Witaj Stephen!
Next interesting detail...
Good vertical frame and super blue sky. Well done.
Regards
Krzysztof

amaryllis (17816) 2008-08-18 12:58

bonjour Stephen
Tu as pris cette cathédrale sous toutes les coutures et là avec l'entrée avec cette tourelle, (malgré une lègère déformation, pas toujours evident)une bonne luminosit é et un bon cadrage
juliette

dareco (17104) 2008-08-18 13:40

Another very beautiful picture! I'm wondering how often they would do renovations and repairs on a place like this. It amazes me how long they stand. TFS and have a happy day!

Charo (31803) 2008-08-18 16:29

Bonsoir Stephen,
Grande capture de cette arche à l'entrée de la cathédrale. Excellente composition avec une très bonne lumière et des détails Bon travail.
Amitiés,
Charo

wolf38 (13111) 2008-08-20 9:02

Hello Stephen. For this kind of architecture the upright format is ideally selected. The shade shows that there is actually two towers. Like always: exemplary text. Worth seeing. Best regards, Wolfgang.

mikolaj_kawa (31259) 2008-08-21 0:45

Hello Stephen! Wonderful architecture. Very interesting detail. Good composition. Marvelous colors. Good capture. Well done!

testmaniac (12262) 2008-09-22 0:49

Hello Stephen,great architecture building makes this photo very interesting! Cool place!

TFS

Phil