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Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges | |
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 Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges Cathedral | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges | |
  Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges  Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges | |
| Coordinates:43°01′42″N0°34′18″E / 43.0283°N 0.5716°E /43.0283; 0.5716 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitania |
| Department | Haute-Garonne |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Gaudens |
| Canton | Bagnères-de-Luchon |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Marie-Claire Uchan[1] |
Area 1 | 11.17 km2 (4.31 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 233 |
| • Density | 20.9/km2 (54.0/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 31472 /31510 |
| Elevation | 421–1,016 m (1,381–3,333 ft) (avg. 518 m or 1,699 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges (French pronunciation:[sɛ̃bɛʁtʁɑ̃dəkɔmɛ̃ʒ], literallySaint-Bertrand ofComminges;Gascon:Sent Bertran de Comenge) is acommune (municipality) and formerepiscopal see in theHaute-Garonnedepartment in southwesternFrance. It is a member of theLes Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The Most Beautiful Villages of France") association.
In 406, Saint Jerome wrote that the Roman GeneralPompey, while on the way back toRome after a military campaign in Spain, founded a Roman colony there, presumably to defend the passage to theAran Valley in thePyrenees and the Iberian peninsula. However, extensive archaeological investigations have failed to find any evidence of this.[3] The colony, built on the valley floor below the current hilltop village, was namedLugdunum Convenarum. This Roman town dates from the Augustan period and had reached around 30,000 people at its highest point.[4] It belonged to theRoman province ofNovempopulana and had a growing Christian community, which by the late fourth century got its ownDiocese of Comminges, which wassuffragan of the MetropolitanArchdiocese of Eauze. It is claimed to have been the place of exile from 39 AD ofHerod Antipas, with his wifeHerodias, under EmperorCaligula's orders, although this is based on an unclear point inJosephus.[5] In 405 theVandals sacked the city[4] and forced the peasantry to move to the citadel.
In 585 another Germanic invasion, by theBurgundians under kingGuntram, attacked the city in the course of their pursuit ofGundoald. It remained in decline for nearly five centuries. The bishopric however persisted under the name of Comminges and was transferred in the ninth century to theecclesiastical province of the MetropolitanArchdiocese of Auch.
In 1083 a knight related to theCounts of Toulouse,Bertrand de l'Isle-Jourdain,canon of Saint Augustine inToulouse, was nominatedbishop of Comminges. He ordered the construction of the cathedral and of theRomanesque cloister. The place became used by pilgrims as astage on the route toSantiago de Compostela.
Bertrand de l'Isle was canonised and became known as Saint-Bertrand in the 13th century and Lugdunum Convenarum became known asSaint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. The termComminges itself comes from the Latin word "Convenae", meaning "those who came together" at Pompey's new settlement.
On 19 July 2012, during the 99th edition ofTour de France, it was one of the villages which cyclists passed by.
In addition to the formercathedral, the village has a Romanesquebasilica as well as Roman ruins. There is an archeological site close to the Cathedral in which it is possible to identify the remains of a Romanthermae and of atheatre.
The village itself is a medieval one, with several arches and vaults. It has several gates entering it; on the Cabirole Gate it is possible to read about the tax set byLouis XIV on fish. Another gate, the Majou Gate, is interesting in that it is the one pilgrims used. Following the ramparts it is possible to observe the Matacan Rock from which, according to the legend, Gondoald had been executed by Gunther.
Entering the nave people will see three distinct architectural styles at the same time:
Thenarthex ends by two huge pillars with a circumference of no less than 11.45m. Over the northern and southern walls one can see the Romanesque arches, the floors are made of marble and include some tombs and sepulchres. The choir is also clearly Romanesque and offers an impressive view over the entire valley.
The Gothic part is built in the MeridionalGothic style. There is a single nave that is 55m long, 16m wide and 28m tall. Over the arrow arches there are "coat of arms" from the founding bishops. The stained glasses are impressive by their level of details, almost comparable to those ofAuch.
The stalls within the choir were commissioned byJean de Mauléon [fr] but because of the lack of documentation it is impossible to name the artist that made them. Although and by comparison with other stalls it is often considered it was the work ofNicolas Bachelier, or rather of his school which had been using artists fromFrance,Spain andItaly. Most of the work had been done in oak and walnut, the choir seems cut off from the rest of the church contrasting so much with the Gothic and Romanesque parts.
The sixty-seven stalls represent characters from both the Old and the New Testaments, including scenes like: temptation, envy and lust.
The former cathedral has been listed as aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site as part of theWorld Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 324 | — |
| 1968 | 317 | −2.2% |
| 1975 | 251 | −20.8% |
| 1982 | 228 | −9.2% |
| 1990 | 217 | −4.8% |
| 1999 | 237 | +9.2% |
| 2004 | 240 | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 257 | +7.1% |
| 2009 | 259 | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 243 | −6.2% |
| 2015 | 244 | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 242 | −0.8% |
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Commingeois. The name of the demonym name of the Village referring to the ancient region,Comminges.
Themediaeval scholar and ghost story writerM. R. James used Saint-Bertrand, and more particularly, its cathedral, as a setting for his classic tale of terror "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book", which can be found in the collectionGhost Stories of an Antiquary (1904). The English composerKaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) wrote a piano piece inspired by James's story entitledSt. Bertrand de Comminges: "He was laughing in the tower" (1941).
According to ancient Jewish historianFlavius Josephus (books Antiquities and Wars, combined information), Lugdunum Covenarum – then in the Roman province of Spain – was the place of exile ofHerod Antipas, who had been the Tetrarch (ruler) ofGalilee in the time ofJesus Christ. Herod and his wife Herodias were sent there under the orders of the EmperorCaligula in AD 39,[6] and they remained there until their death about two years later. Confusion of this place with present-day Lyon, then also calledLugdunum, is still frequent nowadays, though the Hispanic reference makes this geographically impossible.
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