Lodève Cathedral France, Languedoc - Roussillon

...as the obvious classical visit. Lodève is situated in the bottom of a deep valley, and therefore any road taken to get there leads from the surrounding mountains above. Lodève being a small town of less than 7000 inhabitants, the Cathedral tower lofts way over the four-storey red tiled houses.

Having dropped my son off with his team, I parked up not far from the Cathedral entrance, I thought I'd take a few photos of the outside first. ...
...dragged through the streets of Lodève by a horse. To the right, the entrance to the relic chapel, where a number of decorated golden containers hold the relics of the saint. So the man explained;

-In 2006 we celebrated the millennium of Saint Fulcrans death on the 13th February. The saint was bishop here for 57 years from the year 949. Having prepared his replacement as bishop after his death premonition, he was buried within the cathedral. ... more

The Cathedral is visible from all the roads which lead to Lodève, with its imposing 57 metre high square bell tower set in the heart of the town. As on many Saturday afternoons, my son had a football match, this time in Lodève. Years of matches have allowed me to discover a large part of the Languedoc Roussillon region.

On arriving in Lodève, the Cathedral struck me as the obvious classical visit. Lodève is situated in the bottom of a deep valley, and therefore any road taken to get there leads from the surrounding mountains above. Lodève being a small town of less than 7000 inhabitants, the Cathedral tower lofts way over the four-storey red tiled houses.

Having dropped my son off with his team, I parked up not far from the Cathedral entrance, I thought I'd take a few photos of the outside first. I wanted to walk around it to catch the south façades rare and faint winter sunlight. To its right, and west end, glued to the cathedral is the town hall which is closed to the public by a grand gate. No access west wise. The north façade and entrance in front of me looks like many other Gothic Cathedrals with its large stone blocks and buttresses which have been darkened by time. Once around the apse to the east, with its tightly fitted buttresses, the cathedral is joined to the endless houses which form the side street. Tough for the south façade photos! Back to the entrance...

The grand ancient wooden doors were wide open, and on the wall outside, a map of the cathedrals architecture. Once through the small interior door, I saw the particularity of this Cathedral. The 12 metre high stained glass windows around the apse are simply splendid. They look brand new despite their 155 years of age, letting in an impressive amount of light when the sun pierced through the clouds.

The cathedral was almost empty, except for an invisible whispered prayer which came from one of the side chapels. I made the most of my camera, capturing the beautiful windows and vaults, but also the colossal paintings along the naive. Above the west entrance (which I guess now "belongs" to the town hall), an impressive blue and gold pipe organ outlines a rosas high above. The sunlight came and went imitating flood lights being switched on and off. My son must have started his match already, time to go.

I was on my way out when the whispering man came out of his prayer and headed straight for me.
- Have you seen the cloister? he asked me
- Where? I said, rather surprised that there was one within the town and town halls walls.
- Follow me...
He lead me through a side chapel and out of a particularly thick but small wooden door, out to the south façade. The cloister was very small and only 2 arched passages of very few arches remain around a small square of grass. However, it allowed me to at last take a photo of the bell tower from the south, even if the sun had given it a day.

Having noticed the caretakers enthusiasm to show me the chapel of Saint Fulcran, from where the relics chapel is accessible, I decided to miss the beginning of my sons match to do so. I didn't regret it, as this man knew his history, and the story he told me was far from being ordinary.

Within the chapel of St. Fulcran and to the left of his statue and stained glass depictions, a painting of the saint with a rope around his neck being dragged through the streets of Lodève by a horse. To the right, the entrance to the relic chapel, where a number of decorated golden containers hold the relics of the saint. So the man explained;

-In 2006 we celebrated the millennium of Saint Fulcrans death on the 13th February. The saint was bishop here for 57 years from the year 949. Having prepared his replacement as bishop after his death premonition, he was buried within the cathedral. Two hundred years later, his tomb was opened during restoration, finding much to their astonishment, an intact saint Fulcran. Hair, skin and bones hadn't been distort by time. The body was placed within a glass case for all to see, and stayed intact and four century's or so, until the religion wars. Until a certain Claude de Narbonne, seigneur (lord) of Faugères and Lunas, a converted Protestant (of Catholic mother), attacked the town.

It was in 1573 that the "seigneur" and his troops hid in the sewers around the towns ramparts for 15 nights, time enough to saw their way through the town gates. The Huguenot and his men attacked the Cathedral first, (before rapping the women and torturing the rich), destroying the naive by blowing the main pillars and profane the saints body, still intact 624 years after his death. Having attempted, in vain, to nail the saint to a cross or to burn him, the protestant had the Saints body tied to a horse and dragged through the streets of Lodève (hence the painting).

Now the caretaker took care to tell me many details ;

The dragged body would have stood up several times before reaching his macabre destination... the butchers block. Here it is said that the dark seigneur forced the butcher to cut the saint into small pieces and sell them to be eaten by the locals. A blind woman would have attempted, without success, to cook the saints hand. Miracle has it that her view came back, and seeing that the meat she had bought was the hand of the saint, she returned it to the cathedral, where it lays to this day amongst other pieces in the relics chapel, in front of me.

It was seriously time to go and although the tales were grand, and the decor fantastic, my son was supporter-less.

-Next Friday we celebrate saint Fulrans death (13th February), and we'll be taking the hand out, exposing it for all to see.

I thanked the caretaker for his time, explaining that I had to go.

Once home, (my son lost 3-1) I looked up the Cathedral and Saint Fulcran on Internet to get the whole story.

It so happens that Claude de Narbonne was assassinated and decapitated by his own mother, a fervent catholic, to put an end to all his massacres, which were unfortunately, not limited to that of Lodève. The Lodèvois population played boules with his head, their vengeance quenched. 

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