This monastery is situated on a rocky hill which rises out of the flat plain of the Rhone, and which, in Roman times, was undoubtedly an island surrounded by the waters of the river. Near the base of the south-east side of the rock, a cave is said to have formed the hermitage of St Trophime, the patron saint of Arles (Fig. 79). To preserve and consecrate this hermitage it was converted into a chapel, and enclosed with an arcade (the inner one) cut in the rock. To this again at a later time an outer wall has been added so as to form a chapel, dedicated to St Peter, on the exterior of the cave. Beyond the east end of the chapel there are three additional rude chambers hollowed out of rock. One of these, which is nearly filled with a great stone seat, is called the confessional of St Trophime. At the west end there is a space forming a kind of entrance porch or narthex.

The ancient chapel or hermitage is entirely excavated in the rock, and has a seat left along the inner side, which being continued round the east end forms a step up to the choir. This chapel may be of a very early date, but it is impossible to fix its age from the total absence of architectural features.

The outer chapel (Fig. 80) is not of so great antiquity, but the ornament of the caps and form of the tunnel vault belong to the earliest period of the Provençal style—probably the ninth or tenth century. The exterior is seen at the bottom of Fig. 85.

The monastery was erected on the upper part of the rock, and was surrounded like a feudal castle with a fortified wall of enceinte. It was also protected by a keep or citadel, such as frequently occurs in these Southern monasteries, exposed as they were to attack on all hands.

The church of the monastery of Mont-Majour is an example of the severe style of the twelfth century, and likewise of the aisle-less plan of the Southern provinces. This church was founded in 1016, and was conceived on a very large scale, but little seems to have been done during the following hundred years, the most of the work being in the style of the twelfth century. It consists of an upper church and a lower church or very large crypt. The latter extends under a large part of the space occupied by the upper church, and, like it, is in the form of a Latin cross. The nave of the church is very short, owing to the works having been stopped for want of funds to complete it on the extensive scale on which it was originally projected. The crypt is all vaulted with circular arches, and is extremely dark, the only light admitted being what can penetrate into it from the small windows in the apse.

The arrangement of the choir of the crypt is peculiar. The altar stands in the centre, and round it runs a wall with five wide arches opening on a gallery which follows round the apse, and from which chapels radiate in the various faces of the octagon. The chief altar is thus visible from almost any part of the choir.

The upper church forms one great hall with a transept and apse, and is roofed with pointed tunnel vaults strengthened with transverse ribs, but is entirely without ornament.

It has, however, an effect of simple grandeur and spaciousness owing to its size; but from the shortness of the nave, there is a want of due proportion in the various parts. The choir, as is usual in Cistertian churches of this date, is very short, the apse beginning almost at the transept.

The whole building is solidly constructed with good ashlar work. The west doorway is round arched, and is surmounted with a large pointed window from which the principal light in the church is obtained. The exterior is as unornamental as the interior. The east end (Fig. 81) is finished with a polygonal apse, the windows of which in the upper church are simple round arches springing from shafts recessed in the jambs. The exterior of the apse of the crypt is peculiar, owing to the form of the segmental depressed arches, enclosing deep recesses, at the inner end of which are the small windows of the crypt. The depressed form of arch was probably adopted owing to the want of height and the desire to admit as much light as possible. The same segmental form is also employed in the cloister arcades. The apse has been heightened at a late period and the interior made circular. An enriched Gothic chapel has been added to the north transept in the fourteenth century, and extensive Gothic buildings, now in a state of total ruin (see Figs. 81, 82) have been extended to the south of the church.

The Abbey of Mont-Majour contains a cloister (Fig. 82) with the same style of ornament and sculpture, but much simpler in design than that of St Trophime. The cloister walk is covered with a plain barrel vault constructed with carefully wrought stones, strengthened with transverse ribs resting on “storied” consoles built into the wall. The arcade is formed with segmental arches springing from solid piers, and fluted pillars, with the simplest cornice. Each large arch is filled in with three small round ones, springing from light shafts with elaborately carved caps. The buttresses are fluted like those of St Trophime. The original lean-to roof, covered with stone flags and provided with large rude gargoyles and corbels, is here preserved, and shews what that at Arles was like when first constructed. The cloister here, as at St Trophime, is in the original Provençal style, and is probably a relic of an older series of structures which existed before the present church was erected in the second Provençal style of the twelfth century.

A remarkable specimen of a plan more common in the East than the West occurs in the chapel of Ste Croix (Fig. 83), which seems to have been the mortuary chapel of the monks. The main building consists of four apses arranged in the form of a Greek cross, and crowned over the

crossing with a square dome. This is preceded by a square porch with simple barrel vault, separated by a door from the chapel. The whole aspect (Fig. 84) and arrangements of the edifice have a strange and foreign appearance, and recall the architecture of the East. At the same time the high triangular pediments of the exterior, and the cornices, egg mouldings, modillions, and the simple circular arch of the doorway, are all features characteristic of the late Empire; while the ornamental cresting and other details are illustrative of the Eastern character impressed on Roman work at Byzantium, and thence transported into Western Europe. In the porch is an inscription attributing the foundation to Charlemagne, but Mérimée clearly proves that this is a forgery, and that the date of the building is 1019. The chapel is only lighted with three small windows, which open upon a little enclosure where numerous shallow graves have been excavated in the rock. A door in the south apse also opens into this graveyard, so that the bodies might be carried into it from the chapel after the service had been performed. Several similar graves are cut in the rock in front of the porch. These excavations are all very

small, some no more than 3 feet long, and do not appear ever to have been occupied. Mérimée is of opinion that in order to give their shrine as much appearance of antiquity and sanctity as possible, and especially to enable it to compete with the very successful cemetery of the Alyscamps at Arles, the monks had not only put up the fabricated inscription above referred to, but had also caused these trenches to be cut in the rock to represent the graves of martyrs.

We have already seen that this monastery was fortified and surrounded with walls. But it was chiefly strengthened with a great donjon, such as the abbots, who were also great feudal lords, frequently constructed for their own security, and that of the monks and their treasures, in case of extremity. This keep (Fig. 85) was erected in 1369 by Pons de l’Orme. It is very substantially built with square-dressed stones, the surface being left rough or bossy, as was the custom at that time. The building (Fig. 86) is a simple parallelogram, 48 feet by 32 feet, with a slight projection at one angle to contain the staircase. The doorway gives direct access to the ground floor, which is vaulted with a pointed tunnel vault, ornamented with ribs springing from corbels (see section). A cellar occupies part of a lower story, which also contains a well. The vault over the ground floor may possibly have formed a separate dark loft or store, for storage of provisions, &c. The lower portion of this floor has one window only. The hall, or chief living room, was on the first floor. It is provided with fire-places and cupboards, and is lighted by two windows on one side, furnished with stone seats. The height of the tower from the basement to the parapet is about 80 feet, and the top forms a platform supported on a pointed arch. The space between the lower and upper vaults was divided into three floors, with wooden beams and joisting. The corbels for these still remain, but all the woodwork is destroyed. The platform on the top is surrounded with a parapet supported on bold corbels. At the angles the parapet is rounded off, so as to give the effect of projecting angle bartizans.

From the corbels seen on the exterior of the south side of the tower, at the first floor level, it seems probable that some kind of wooden platform was constructed between the keep and the outer wall, from which the passage between them, which formed a principal access to the abbey, might be vigorously defended. One cannot help being struck with the peculiarly military aspect of the tower, and its strange proximity to the more sacred structures of the abbey.

The ruins of some Gothic erections and of the sumptuous edifice, begun by the Benedictine monks of the eighteenth century, but interrupted by the breaking out of the Revolution, are visible in Fig. 81.

A short run by rail westward from Arles takes to the ancient town and abbey church of St Gilles. This church, which is unfortunately but a fragment, possesses the finest portal in Provence, in the same style as that of St Trophime at Arles. The town stands on the branch of the Rhone called Le Petit-Rhône, which bounds the delta on the west. It bore originally the name of Vallis Flaviana, and is supposed to stand near the site of an ancient Roman city. An abbey was founded here by St Ægidius (or St Gilles) in the sixth century, around which the town gradually clustered.

St Gilles was the chief priory of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, and became a place of such importance that the Count of Toulouse took one of his titles from it, being also called the Count of St Gilles. It was here that Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, in 1209, did penance for the murder of the Papal legate, Pierre de Castelnau, and for the part he took on the side of the Albigenses.

The church of St Gilles was designed on a grand scale, befitting the condition of the place at the time, but seems never to have been completed, the works having been interrupted and destroyed during the crusades of the Northern Franks against the Albigenses of the South. These wars formed a sort of sequel to, or continuation of the invasions of the barbarians. The South of Gaul, having preserved much of its Roman civilisation and municipal institutions, had become sooner settled, and had more quickly revived from anarchy than the North. This led to an independent intellectual and religious development, which did not conform to the ideas of religious unity then prevalent. Crusades against the Infidels in Syria and Africa had now become somewhat stale and unprofitable; but a crusade against the rich provinces of the South had great attractions, and was heartily supported by the restless and unsettled people of the North. Hence arose (as already pointed out) the long and cruel war in Aquitaine and Languedoc—the Crusaders being led by Simon de Montfort, and the people of the South by the Count of Toulouse.

In these disastrous and bloody campaigns the whole country suffered terribly. The towns were besieged and sacked, and the buildings destroyed. Amongst others, St Gilles dates its decline from the devastation then inflicted on it, and from which it never recovered.

The following inscription, said to be copied from an older one now lost, occurs on the wall near where the ancient cloister stood:—“Anno Domini, 1116, hoc templum Sancti Egidii ædificare cepit mense Aprili feria 2^A in Octava Paschae.”

The church of St Gilles was thus begun in 1116 by Alphonse Jourdain, son of Raymond IV. of Toulouse. There still remains a portion of a subterranean church, which formed the substructure of the intended great building above, and which dates from the first half of the twelfth century. It is well lighted, and divided into two with a row of columns supporting two low cross vaults, ornamented with dog-tooth enrichments.

In the midst of the outline of the greater works, which can still be traced, rises the existing small church, which has all the appearance of a temporary erection. It is in a late style and of small importance architecturally, but it marks the decline of the wealth and prosperity of the town from its state at the time when the great church was founded.

The really great and valuable work, however, at St Gilles is the splendid triple portal (Fig. 87), which is by far the largest and richest example of Provençal decoration. Every part of the surface is covered with work, either sculptured with figures or enriched with ornament, and although the remainder of the building

is incomplete, every detail of the portal is finished in the minutest manner. At the top of a wide flight of steps rises an elevation consisting of six pillars (five plain and one fluted) with capitals closely imitated from the Corinthian model. The bases are of unequal height, shewing that the shafts have been possibly borrowed from an ancient source. The columns sustain an architrave, frieze, and cornice, which, however, are interrupted by the round arches of the three doorways. The arches of the two side entrances rest on the two end pillars, while that of the central doorway, which is wide and is divided into two openings by a central pilaster, springs from two smaller columns set upon pedestals, and also provided with Corinthian caps. On the bases of the columns of the lateral doors (Fig. 88) bas-reliefs represent David as shepherd and conqueror of Goliath. The shafts supporting the lintels of the doors rest, as was generally the case in Romanesque designs, on lions. The abbot, sitting in the gate to render justice, was placed between these lions; hence Charters given by him are sometimes dated “inter leones.”

A stylobate of the height of the pedestals is continued along behind the principal columns, on which rests a series of pilasters dividing the background into recesses or niches containing large statues of the apostles. The figures are executed with some freedom after the Roman manner, and have not such a mediæval aspect as those of Arles. There is, however, evidence of Byzantine influence in the thin folds of the drapery, and the jewels and embroidered ornaments carved upon the dresses. The pedestals, architrave, cornice, and arch mouldings are enriched with Roman leaf and egg and bead ornaments, mixed with fanciful Romanesque carvings of heads of animals &c., in the modillions. The frieze is covered with sculptures in bas-relief of Scripture subjects. The central tympanum contains the figure of Christ in glory surrounded by the emblems of the four Evangelists—that of the north doorway the Virgin and Child in the centre, with the adoration of the Magi on one side, and the annunciation of the birth of Christ to the shepherds on the other. In the south doorway is represented the crucifixion. This portal was probably completed before the breaking out of the Albigensian conflict, about 1150.

The portals of St Gilles and Arles are the most splendid productions of Provençal art. They stand almost alone as portals amongst the Romanesque work of the period, which has given rise to the impression that they are importations from a distance rather than a natural sequence from simpler preceding forms out of which they might have grown.

It has been above pointed out that in Syria many churches were built in the early centuries of the Christian era in which the Greco-Roman style was perpetuated and received new developments. Many of these churches exist between Antioch and Aleppo, in which the general design and details of mouldings are very similar to those of the Provençal portals, the only difference being that in the Syrian examples there are no statues, as all such images were forbidden in the East. That country was taken by the Crusaders in 1098, and remained, as the kingdom of Antioch, under Western government till 1268. The seaports of Provence being the natural centres of communication between the Frank kingdoms of the East and West, it seemed natural that some new and foreign ideas should be imported there. Hence it is maintained by some that Syrian models had considerable influence on the architecture of Provence, and that it is to that connection that much of the art expressed in the portals of St Gilles and Arles is due. There is, however, really no necessity to go so far afield for the models on which Provençal art in general, and these portals in particular, were based. We have had several striking opportunities of observing how closely the Roman examples were followed in Provençal architecture; while innumerable instances of the Romanesque spirit which pervaded it before and during the twelfth century, might be adduced from the many beautiful cloisters (similar in style to those of St Trophime and Mont-majour) which abound all over the South of France. These have been preserved, while the churches have in many cases been enlarged and reconstructed in the later and plainer Provençal style. One of the most prominent elements in the older style is the figure sculpture, and there can be no question but that the idea of the statues was derived from the remains of ancient art so plentifully scattered throughout the country. Statues being entirely prohibited by the Eastern iconoclasts, that element can have had no connection with the East, although the treatment of the ornament may be to some extent influenced by Byzantine feeling.

The trade between the Levant and the West of the Mediterranean was considerable, and included all kinds of artistic articles, such as furniture, ornamental boxes, dypticks, wooden cases for manuscripts, and carved ivory and goldsmith’s work. These were all covered with exquisite carvings, which, no doubt, served as models to the Western nations, and from which they acquired a taste for the special kind of sculpture known as Byzantine.

It is from the above sources that the complete and elaborate Provençal art displayed in the portals of St Trophime and St Gilles sprang. Viollet-le-Duc remarks of it that it is rich and striking, but gives the idea of an art either fixed by traditional maxims or in its decadence. He states further, that it only succeeded in producing a curious mixture of diverse imitations of other styles. The originality and vigour of the Northern art was entirely awanting. The former style was satisfied with the imitation of works already done, while the latter borrowed from anterior art only the general idea, and created for itself a new development. As already pointed out, the presence of the Roman remains acted on Provençal architecture both favourably and prejudicially; in the first place, by stimulating it into a kind of early classic revival, and in the second place, by thus preventing the free and healthy development of a natural and untramelled style, such as took place in the North. But, so far as the Romanesque style is concerned, that of Provence is probably quite as interesting and instructive as any other. The connection with the art of Rome is continued almost without a break, while the conversion of “Roman” into “Romanesque” is carried out with a refinement and completeness which is not to be found elsewhere, and to which the later Northern styles are considerably indebted, especially in the matter of sculpture.

St Gilles is the most convenient point from which to visit the solitary and now desolate town of Les Saintes Maries. Situated near the mouth of the Petit-Rhône it was formerly a place of some distinction. Here landed, according to tradition, corroborated by the investigations of Lenthéric, Mary Jacobi, sister of the Blessed Virgin, Mary Salome, Mother of the Apostles James (the Greater) and John, their servant Sarah, Lazarus, Martha, Mary Magdalene, and St Maximin (who had received his sight by the word of Christ), having all been driven from Jerusalem by persecution. Mary Jacobi and Mary Salome remained here, and were here buried, whence the name and fame of the town and the crowds of pilgrims who at one time frequented it.

The church (Fig. 89) is a very remarkable one. It was built in the twelfth century on the site of one destroyed by the Saracens, and consists of the usual single nave, having seven bays in its length, roofed with a pointed barrel vault, and finished with an eastern apse. Externally the whole building is surmounted with a crenellated and machicolated parapet, and presents the appearance of a strong fortification, with a keep tower rising above the eastern end. The latter includes the apse, which comprises three chapels, one over the other. The lowest, or crypt, contains the tomb of Sarah; the middle apse forms the choir of the church; while above this there rises a third chapel in the tower above the roof, containing the relics of the “Saintes Maries.” Rudely sculptured lions adorn the south entrance door, and in the nave there is a well, to supply water to the congregation, who would likewise form the garrison in case of siege. This remarkable structure may be regarded as a typical example of the defensive style so much practised in the South-West of France.

Marseilles.—Few relics are preserved in this ancient city of its Roman or mediæval structures; of the latter the most remarkable is the church of St Victor. We have here an instance of the partial adoption of the Gothic style in the South, and an attempt to combine Gothic details with Southern structural features. This curious church, which stands near the ancient port, is all that remains of the once extensive buildings of the famous monastery founded in the fifth century by St Cassien. Some portions of the primitive masonry are still to be seen in

the crypt. The buildings were several times destroyed by the Saracens, but they were finally rebuilt in their existing form about the year 1350 by Pope Urban V. (formerly abbot of this monastery), who also caused to be erected the great square towers and crenellated parapets which give the building externally the appearance of a fortress (Fig. 90). Some relics of the early Romanesque work are still visible in the entrance porch. The general design of the interior (Fig. 91) is that of a basilica, with central nave and side aisles, the former roofed with a pointed tunnel vault strengthened with transverse ribs, and originally without a clerestory, although openings have more recently been cut in the vault. These general dispositions are common in Provençal architecture. But the details of the nave piers, with their numerous small shafts and foliated caps and bases are all borrowed from the Gothic of the North; while the tomb erected in the west-most bay of the south aisle (Fig. 92) is a completely Northern design.

The fortification of the exterior is a feature of almost universal occurrence in the churches of the South, as has been already noticed, and we shall meet with other instances. This peculiar characteristic probably dates from the time of the crusades against the Albigenses in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the inhabitants were glad to adopt every means in their power to obtain protection, and had to turn even their churches, which were not sacred in the eyes of their assailants, into fortresses for their defence.

The frequent attacks of the Saracens may also have had some influence in producing this style of exterior in the churches near the sea-coast.

Aix-en-Provence, which is easily reached from Marseilles by a delightful railway route through the mountains, retains few marks of its distinction as the first settlement of the Romans in Gaul. A few Roman walls and pillars from the temple of Apollo, together with some fragments in the Museum, are all that Aix can shew of the original Aquæ Sextiæ. But the ancient church of St Sauveur and its octagonal baptistery exhibit the Roman influence, extending down to a comparatively late date. The baptistery is of the sixth century, but the upper portion has been restored in the style of the eighteenth century, and has thus completely lost its proper character. It is octagonal on plan, with eight monolithic granite columns taken from the ancient temple of Apollo set in the angles.

The church of St Sauveur was erected in 1103, and is supposed to have been built on part of the cella of the temple of Apollo. It now forms the south aisle of the enlarged cathedral erected in the fifteenth century. But

this old church (according to Mérimée) is itself a restoration of a still more ancient building, of which some remains are yet preserved in the western portal (Fig. 93), the architecture of which strongly recalls that of Notre Dame des Doms at Avignon. Here we have the same fluted Corinthian columns and cornice with Roman enrichments, and arched opening between. The small engaged columns with twisted and fluted shafts and straight arched lintel are, however, restorations of the twelfth century. To that date also belongs the interior (Fig. 94), with its pointed tunnel vault strengthened at intervals with transverse arches. The arches which carry the dome over the original central compartment are round. The dome itself is octagonal, the angles being filled with arched pendentives. The piers are simple pilasters, with small classic-like pillars introduced in the angles near the top, to carry the springing of the transverse arches. This was a common arrangement in Provençal churches, as, for instance, at St Trophime, Arles. The cloister of St Sauveur (Fig. 95) is a fine specimen of the twelfth century erections of that description, so numerous in this part of France. It is built in white marble, and enriched with a great variety of the Romanesque or Lombardic sculpture which distinguished the work of the Northern races. The shafts are particularly remarkable from the great variety of their forms and ornament. Some are octagonal, while others are twisted and fluted, and some are actually knotted together, and nearly all are covered with carved ornamentation. In these and similar works we have very palpable examples of the innovations on the older traditional forms for which the twelfth century is so much noted. Of the later church, the carved Gothic west doors (executed 1503), containing figures of theological virtues, prophets, &c., mingled with Gothic canopies and traceries, are worthy of careful inspection.

In his exhaustive work, entitled “Les Villes Mortes du Golfe de Lyon,” Mons. C. Lenthéric gives a full and interesting account of the ancient towns of Southern Gaul between the Rhone and the Pyrenees. Their origin and fall are shewn to be both attributable to causes arising from the natural configuration of the coast. The land in this locality is flat, and the beach shallow and sandy, while at the same time it is exposed to the full force of the violent storms raised by the east winds which sweep over it from the Mediterranean. The rivers emptying into this shallow sea bring down large quantities of sand and mud, which, being driven back by the tides and storms, have in the course of ages formed bars or long lines of sandy dunes at some distance from the land. Within these sand banks are thus enclosed long lagunes, similar to the shallow sea, bounded by the well known Lido, in the midst of which Venice stands.

These lagunes formed convenient and safe harbours for the early Phœnicians and other navigators, and were suitable in depth for the size of the craft then in use. But gradually the floods of the rivers brought down more deposits, and even in Roman times threatened to block up the passages through the lagunes to the open sea. It was only by building a strong wall for the purpose of forcing the river Aude to keep in a certain channel, so that when in flood it might scour out the passage, and by the erection of beacons in the lagune to mark the navigable course, that the Roman port of Narbonne could be kept open. In 1320 a great flood destroyed the retaining wall and changed the course of the river, after which the ruin of Narbonne as a seaport was complete. The town is now 8 miles from the sea, and is connected with “la Robine” branch of the Canal du Midi, which unites the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay. A similar process to that at Narbonne has contributed to the ruin of several other ancient towns in this province,—a district which has also suffered more severely than any other at the hands of the Saracens. Forming as it does the easiest access from Spain into Provence, it necessarily lay open to constant attack. Besides, the Moors, although driven across the Pyrenees, were still masters of the sea, and as corsairs or pirates they scoured the Mediterranean for many centuries after the time of C. Martel, attacking and plundering the smaller towns all round the coast, and in some instances fortifying themselves on land in strong places whence they could issue to plunder the more inland country. Such was their establishment at the Grand Fraxinet, in the mountainous district lying to the east of Toulon, which is still known as the “chaine des Maures.”

We shall have occasion to observe some architectural effects resulting from their invasions, particularly how the inhabitants were forced to seek refuge on the rocky heights, and to build their towns on the top of almost inaccessible mountains. The Moors have also left traces of their presence both in the general design and details of several of the edifices of the Western Riviera.

Proceeding westwards from Marseilles by rail and passing St Gilles, we reach Montpellier, the architecture of which is chiefly modern. The ancient church of Maguelonne, situated on the outer boundary of the lagunes, may however, be visited from here. It was fortified and not unlike that of the Stes. Maries. Omitting for the present the wonderful town of Aigues-Mortes, to which we shall again return, we continue our journey amongst the lagunes, past the crowded modern seaport of Cette, and the ancient town of Agde, with its dark church crowned with frowning fortifications, and at last reach Béziers, a place whose architecture claims our attention.

Béziers is an ancient Roman town, which has still a few relics in the shape of Roman walls, but no classic buildings of any importance. It stands upon a steep hill with almost perpendicular faces towards the river Orbe, which flows round its base. The town was strongly fortified, and held a prominent place as a fortress in the Middle Ages. Large masses of these fortifications are still observable to the right of the terrace at the west

end of the cathedral (Fig. 96), now crowned with a large block of building occupied as a House of Detention.

The spacious main street of the town ascends the hill from the south-east, and presents on either hand indications of the chief industry of the place in the immense and cavernous-looking cellars filled with innumerable barrels of alcohol, which, being in many cases too numerous for the cellars to contain, encumber the street in great piles. The effect of a street composed of these great vaulted caves is unique and remarkable.

The Cathedral of St Nazaire stands on the summit of the hill. It was surrounded with a fortified enceinte, and, forming the chief citadel of the town, it was strongly built and designed for defence. The transept is the oldest portion, dating from the twelfth century. The southern angle buttresses are crowned with a parapet, pierced with flanking loop-holes, angled so as to send missiles in every direction. The cornice of these parapets is remarkable, and presents a good illustration of the Oriental or Saracenic influence above referred to (Fig. 97). The south transept commands the cloister, the walls of which were crenellated.

Béziers suffered more, perhaps, than any other place during the Albigensian Crusades. On one occasion, when the town was taken, every human being was put to the sword, to the number, it is said, of 60,000 souls. The buildings and defences were in great measure destroyed, and the cathedral was partly rebuilt and re-fortified in the fourteenth century.

The west end commands the walls which crown the escarpments above the Orbe, and is strongly defended with two crenellated towers, and by a wide arched machicolation surmounting the west doorway and Rose window above it (Fig. 96). An embrasured parapet is placed above this, and three ornamental corbels jut out from the face of the wall, to enable the defenders to approach the parapet and man it. These corbels are, however, not joined to the parapet, although they divide the long arched machicolation into four smaller ones. The embrasures and machicolations are all provided (as usual in fourteenth and fifteenth century work) with bold beads or mouldings, to prevent arrows and bolts from ricocheting within the parapet.

The eastern apse was also rebuilt in the beginning of the fourteenth century. Here also (Fig. 98) wide machicolations are formed by arches thrown across between the buttresses, while the parapet above is finished with an open arcaded balustrade, which, in an ecclesiastical building, is more appropriate than an ordinary crenellation, and serves the same purpose equally well. These defences protect the large windows below from being taken by escalade, while, for still further security, the windows themselves are completely covered with strong ornamental iron grilles.

The interior (Fig. 99) exhibits a fine instance of Gothic design engrafted on the Southern ground plan.

The choir is a simple wide hall, terminated with an apse of the full width, and containing nine bays; while the groined and ribbed vaulting, and all the details of the windows, arches, and shafts, with their ornamentation, is entirely Gothic. The lower part has been finished at a much later period with Renaissance woodwork. In the manner in which the apse vaulting is carried out there is a strong reminiscence of the domical form; while the upright wall above the vaulting, with its circular eye at the junction of apse and choir, is a feature which recalls many Provençal examples.

The cloisters are situated to the south of the church, and are in good preservation. Their design is completely Northern, of the somewhat cold style of the fifteenth century. The arcade is open, and without tracery, with large buttresses between, carried up with pinnacles above the balustrade. The fountain in the centre of the cloister-garth is simple but effective (Fig. 100).

The view of the town and cathedral from the river (Fig. 98) is very fine. The great mass of the cathedral is seen towering above the huge remains of the ancient fortifications; while in the foreground the Orbe is dammed up, and forms the motive power of a number of picturesque mills in the form of towers. An ancient bridge spans the river lower down.