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Strategic importance for a cathedral-abbey
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Today the monastic buildings have partly disappeared and all that remains of the church is the chapter room, which gives onto the vestige of a gallery of the old cloister and the Northern entry gate to the monastery. The abbey is currently undergoing restoration work so the visit is in two parts in order to maintain safety in certain areas where work is taking place.
1st part :
The Northern entry gate is a tower-porch. Sculpted capitals represent people, animals and horse-riders. The workmanship is rather rough. This gives onto the chapter room which is divided into two vaulted bays. The romanesque façade is composed of a central door between two large bay windows where the sculpture is of exceptional quality. In contrast to the decoration in the church which is classic, the style here is pure romanesque. The decorations are of plants, of bible stories, or fantastic; the stonework is bevelled or sculpted in semi-relief style, all of which has been done with rigorous workmanship.
2nd part :
The church, which is oriented to the east, is composed of a nave flanked by two collaterals of a transept of which all that remains is the northern side, and by a romanesque apse incorporated into a gothic apse. The architectonic elements in the nave are richly decorated. Two Corinthian capitals stand out. The most careful workmanship is found on the southern façade which is also the most richly decorated. The romanesque apse, in a 5-sided polygonal shape, is the strong point of the abbey. The classic-style decoration features eggs and darts patterns, pearls and acanthus leaves and is quite remarkable. The gothic choir was mostly destroyed by the construction of the road. It has, however, conserved one of its chapels.
The town of Alet-les-Bains, surrounded by its 12th century ramparts, has maintained its medieval character : half-timber houses, corbels with sculpted beams, picturesque streets leading to the town gates : the Calvière Gate and the Cadène Gate.
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