Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines - Abbey

Some Abbot Sentimir started to build an abbey here end of the 8th century. The abbey got looted and damaged by "heathens" (Marcel Durliat suspects Normans). From 981 on it was rebuilt by order of King Lothair of France, son of Louis IV of France (aka "Transmarinus"). The abbey slipped under the protection of the Counts of Roussillon and later of the Kings of Aragon. The church was enlarged and re-consecrated in 1153. Since 1088 the abbey was connected to Cluny in Burgundy.

The facade of the fromer abbey church has a white marble lintel over doors of the former abbey church depicting a theophany. For Doyen Marcel Durliat, author of "Roussilion roman", this relief marks the begin of Romanesque sculpturing within the Roussilion. Thanks to an inscription on that lintel (see previous uploads) it is known, that it was carved in 1019.

The Benedictian abbey existed upto the French Revolution, when the monks had to leave. The abbey church serves as a parish church "Saint Michel" since 1846.

Of course, the abbey had a cloister. It was built on the foundation of an older one - and was completed in 1271. This cloister was sold after the French Revolution to new owners, who had built there homes (and stables) into the structure.

Early 20th century some sly business men roamed the area looking for treasures. So - the polygonal fountain of the cloister was sold in 1913. Meanwhile the fountain can be admired in "The Cloisters" in New York. In 1924 some Paul Gouvert bought most of the cloister. Only one of the owners resisted. He had integrated the arcades into his living room. Mr. Gouvert must have had David Copperfield´s talents, as after a short while he gave two arcades (for free!) to the Louvre in Paris, sold one cloister to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and another one to the owner of a Renaissance chateau in Northern France.

In 1982 the owner of the chateau sold the cloister back. It got dismantled and brought back, where it joined the arcades from the Louvre two years later. The arcades in Philadelphia now got copied and in 1986 two side were completed. Only the owner of the southern corner still resisted to cooperate. Finally in 1994 the restauration was completed and since then it is open to the public. I learned that by now only the former chapter-house of the abbey is still a private living room.

The artistic style of the capitals is very rough (for mid 13th century), - the stories, symbols, icons are mystic. Obviously the many workshops having existed in the area (Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Espira-de-l'Agly, Elne, Villefranche-de-Conflent, Prieuré de Serrabone) a century ago, had given up business or moved on.

Just like in nearby Elne (10kms) rhere are many mermaids in Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines. The maids seen here are way clumsier than their slender relatives in Elne. But just like them, they have attracted vandals. The relationship between mermaids and vandals is not yet fully researched. Didn´t Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, say anything about that? This mermaid, flanked by pine cones and birds (or sirens), lost the face.