Carved graffiti

Échebrune is a small village (pop. ~500) neighbouring Biron (previous upload). The Saintonge region is so rich in wonderful Romanesque buildings... Saint-Pierre was erected within the 12th century, but the church suffered from severe damage during the Hundred Years War, the Wars of Religion and the vandalism of the French Revolution. The crossing tower and the large Gothic apse are rebuilt, but the western facade, seen here partially, and the nave are Romanesque, dating back to the 12th century. The many graffiti, carved into the walls of the facade and the nave are probably from the time of the great pilgrimage 12th/13th century. Such knots were a very common subject for medieval graffiti carvers.

Échebrune is a small village (pop. ~500) neighbouring Biron and Avy. The Saintonge region is so rich in wonderful Romanesque buildings... Saint-Pierre was erected within the 12th century, but the church suffered from severe damage during the Hundred Years War, the Wars of Religion and the vandalism of the French Revolution. The crossing tower and the large Gothic apse are rebuilt, but the western facade, seen here partially, and the nave are Romanesque, dating back to the 12th century. The many graffiti, carved into the walls of the facade and the nave are probably from the time of the great pilgrimage 12th/13th century.

Just like in neighbouring Jarnac-Champagne priory, dependent on the (once important) Benedictian abbey Saint-Sauveur de Charroux existed here since the 12th century. At that time Saint-Martin was erected as the church for the priory. The church got enlarged and vaulted in the 13th and 14th century, but during the Wars of Religion, the structure got severely damaged, so that the ceiling and the crossing dome collapsed. The imposant western facade with the large archivolts survived the attacks. The priory was sold after the French Revolution and all buildings, but the church, got demolished. Today Saint-Martin serves as the parish church of the small village. - As I have uploaded already many photos taken here previously, I will just add a few "new" ones. The graffiti, carved into the outer walls of Saint-Martin are younger than, what the medieval pilgrims left on the walls nearby churches. These graffiti may be carved during the time of the French Revolution.

The site was once a (probably Roman) cemetery. A church, dedicated to St. Peter existed here already within the 5th century. This was erected by the local Bishop Achilleo, to house the chains that supposedly once had bound St. Peter. The chains are meanwhile back in Rome and can be seen in San Pietro in Vincoli. "Extra moenia" means, that the church was outside the city walls (= extra muros). The present church was built between the 12th and 13th centuries. It was severely damaged by the Ghibellines in 1329, but was rebuilt in the following decades. The interior was transformed at the end of the seventeenth century - and so by now is Baroque. The facade, decorated with all kinds of reliefs, still is in a good condition, though, due to the isolated location, it is covered with graffiti. I had hoped to find some traces from the from French soldiers, who marched through here with Napoleon´s armee, but there are one few carved graffiti. Most graffiti here are done with copying pencils. These pencils were very popular end of the 19th century.

The "Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine" in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (pop. ~ 14.000) is one of the largest and most important Gothic churches in of the Provence. - As I have uploaded many fotos taken here during previous visits, I will now add only a few.. - A small merovingien church existed here, until a sarcophagus was discovered inside the church´s crypt in 1279. The inscription made clear, that this was the tomb of Mary Magdalene. Her relics had been venerated in Vezeley since the early 11th century. This had made Vezelay Abbey to a major starting point for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. According to a legend a monk named Baudillon brought the relics of Maria Magdalene from Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume to Vezelay. In 1058 Pope Stephen IX had confirmed the authenticity of the relics. It was undisputed that Maria Magdalena was one of the The "Three Marys", who had fled the Holy Land by a miraculous boat and landed at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. After having worked as a sucessful missionar, she retired to a cave in the near mountains. She was buried in a crypt in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, from where the relics had been transferred to Vezelay. The discovery of the tomb in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in 1279 was a very clever "marketing" plot, that put the pilgrim business in Vezelay to a sudden end. Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples founded the Basilique Ste. Marie-Madeleine in 1295. Pope Boniface VIII placed it under the new order of Dominicans. The basilica was built over the crypt (where the tomb was found) but the works slowed down and the basilica never got completed. --- The walls around the stairs, that lead down to the crypt, are covered with graffiti. The "horseshoe" is a very common graffiti carved in by pilgrims on their way to Santiago with a horse, mule or donkey.

Erected within the 10th century, the chapel meanwhile next to a roundabout, just outside Pezens. The road (D6113) runs west to Castelnaudry and was used already by pilgrims on their way to Santiago during medieval times. "Horseshoes" are one both sides of chapel´s portal. These horseshoes are very typical graffiti carved by pilgrims travelling with horses or mules. I found horsehoe-graffiti all along Via Tolosana in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (Var), Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), Baillargues (Hérault) and here. And many of them on the hospital in Pons (Charente-Maritime), what is part of the Via Turonensis.

The abbey was founded within the 8th century. It is dedicated to Saint Papoul, a disciple of Saint Saturnin, missionary and first bishop of Toulouse. It was believed that Saint Papoul was martyred near the place, where the abbey is now. Later a monk named Berenger (or Berengar) lived a pious life here. After he got canonized his relics attracted the first pilgrims to this place. In the aftermath of the crusade against the Cathars the papal organisation created new (smaller) dioceses to enable a stricter control. So since 1317 the abbey church of Saint Papoul was promoted to a cathedral, holding a bishopric (upto 1801). Saint Papoul is a quiet little village, that is one of my favourite places since a long time. Yes, there are the works of the "Maître de Cabestany", who is known under this name since the 1930s when a tympanum and other carvings were found in Cabestany (near Perpignan), but there is so much more. The range of different artistic styles and icons in Saint-Papoul is enormous. The abbey was looted during the Hundred Years' War and Wars of Religion and neglected over decades during the 19th century - so there are lots of graffiti. Maybe prilgrims following the Via Tolosana added a few. "Sole graffiti" (just like "horseshoe-graffiti") are often connected to medieval pilgrims. Here I am not sure. It could be a sole, but it could as well be ... something else.

The "hôpital des pèlerins" hosted a very interesting exhibition centered around graffiti, carved into the walls by pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The many graffiti were collected (and made visible) by GRAHT. On GRAHT´s website are some interesting articles (in French). www.graht.fr/map.php

Kloster Allerheiligen (= "All Saints Abbey") is a former Benedictine monastery, founded by Eberhard VI. von Nellenburg in 1049. The Nellenburg family controlled the bypass of the Rheinfall waterfalls, what led to great wealth. The construction site of the monastery was consecrated by by Pope Leo IX and the works were completed already 1064. The church was dedicated to the Saviour, the Holy Cross, the Virgin Mary and All the Saints. Allerheiligen became, instead of the Reichenau Abbey, the new grave lay by the founding family, and Eberhard himself became a monk in the abbey, and died here in 1078. During the Investiture Controversy the pope loyal Burkhard von Nellenburg, Ebergard´s son and heir, conformed in 1080 all of the rights of the monastery. The monastery was subordinate to the Pope, and received the vast estate of the Nellenburg family, the free election of the abbot, and the town of Schaffhausen. Burkhard remained the monastery's Vogt, and motivated the abbot to join with some monks from the Hirsau Abbey, to reform the monastery on the model of Hirsau, that was based on Cluny During the Reformation in Switzerland, the abbey was abolished, and the church of the abbey became the second main city church in 1524. Kloster Allerheiligen is a labyrinthic complex of buildings. The cloister is the largest in Switzerland and it is dotted with graffiti, carved in after the Reformation. Here are two different stones with strange parallels. Do mathematicians, contemplating about spirals or other geometric patterns, carve in graffiti? That exact??

Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River. It is one of the best preserved aqueducts and part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometre system built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at Uzès to Nîmes, a Roman colony named Nemausus. After the Roman Empire collapsed, the aqueduct fell into disuse. The Pont du Gard remained largely intact, due to the importance of its secondary function. It was used as a toll bridge, so for centuries the local lords and bishops were responsible for its upkeep. Starting in the 18th century the Pont du Gard became a tourist destination. Today it is one of France's most popular tourist attractions with about 1.4 million visitors per year, who all take photos... For centuries, Pont du Gard was a huge, unattended structure, so it is no surprise, that it is covered by graffiti. Most date from the 19th century, when tourists came here, and "left" names and dates. This "horseshoe" may be older, as this kind of graffiti was in medieval times often carved in by pilgrims.

Notre-Dame is the parish church of Biron, a village 6kms east of Pons. Once the church was dedicated to Saint-Eutrope as a relic of "Saint Eutropius of Saintes", who came to the region to evangelize the Gauls in the 3rd century, was kept here. Erected within the 12th century the church got fortified soon after. I had been in Biron a couple if times before. This time I focussed onto the graffiti inside and outside the church. The "Assocation GRATH", who had orgaized an exhibition about medieval graffiti in Pons a year ago, had studied the graffiti here - and had used pencis, to make the lines better visible. Here are two riders. Maybe knights on horses..

In 1095 three noblemen donated a remote piece of land in the Black Forest to the Order of Saint Benedict in 1095. The monastery, that was founded, was settled by monks from "Kloster St. Blasien". The Bishop of Constance consecrated the first stone oratorio in 1099. In 1101 the monastery was placed under papal protection by Pope Paschal II. Emperor Heinrich V confirmed these rights in 1123. The monastery was strongly influenced by Kloster Hirsau, a centre of the Cluniac Reforms. So the second and third abbots came from Hirsau. The abbey church, a flat-roofed three-aisled basilica with a transept, a choir and side choirs was completed in 1133. It was consecrated three years earlier to Saint Nicholas. The blueprint of the church followed the Cluniac/Hirsau scheme. The founders had endowed Kloster Alpirsbach with a number of villages when Count Adalbert joined the monastery around 1100, he donated property in the wine-growing Breisgau region. The monastery to prospered and entered an economic boom in the early 15th century. The decline started some decades later and at the end of that century, the abbey was heavily in debt. In 1522, Alpirsbach's prior Ambrosius Blarer left the monastery after being stripped of his position. Blarer, who had been giving Lutheran sermons at the monastery and had met and befriended the Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon, returned to Württemberg in 1534 to become one of Duke Ulrich's chief reformers. In 1556, Duke Christoph dissolved the monastery. The buildings were used for Protestant seminaries and boarding schools. The Alpirsbach seminary lasted from 1556 to 1595 and taught around 200 students. Today the former abbey is used for cultural events like concerts and exhibitions. There is as well a very interesting museum. I knew that in the old boarding schools dormitories had many graffiti, carved in the 2nd half of the 16th century, but as I was badly prepared, I could not see them, as I had no guided tour.. So I could only search the outside walls for old graffiti.

In 1095 three noblemen donated a remote piece of land in the Black Forest to the Order of Saint Benedict in 1095. The monastery, that was founded, was settled by monks from "Kloster St. Blasien". The Bishop of Constance consecrated the first stone oratorio in 1099. In 1101 the monastery was placed under papal protection by Pope Paschal II. Emperor Heinrich V confirmed these rights in 1123. The monastery was strongly influenced by Kloster Hirsau, a centre of the Cluniac Reforms. So the second and third abbots came from Hirsau. The abbey church, a flat-roofed three-aisled basilica with a transept, a choir and side choirs was completed in 1133. It was consecrated three years earlier to Saint Nicholas. The blueprint of the church followed the Cluniac/Hirsau scheme. The founders had endowed Kloster Alpirsbach with a number of villages when Count Adalbert joined the monastery around 1100, he donated property in the wine-growing Breisgau region. The monastery to prospered and entered an economic boom in the early 15th century. The decline started some decades later and at the end of that century, the abbey was heavily in debt. In 1522, Alpirsbach's prior Ambrosius Blarer left the monastery after being stripped of his position. Blarer, who had been giving Lutheran sermons at the monastery and had met and befriended the Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon, returned to Württemberg in 1534 to become one of Duke Ulrich's chief reformers. In 1556, Duke Christoph dissolved the monastery. The buildings were used for Protestant seminaries and boarding schools. The Alpirsbach seminary lasted from 1556 to 1595 and taught around 200 students. Today the former abbey is used for cultural events like concerts and exhibitions. There is as well a very interesting museum. I knew that in the old boarding schools dormitories had many graffiti, carved in the 2nd half of the 16th century, but as I was badly prepared, I could not see them, as I had no guided tour.. So I could only search the outside walls for old graffiti.

Sandomierz was one of the most important cities in the Polish section of the Via Regia, taking advantage of the location at the junction of the Vistula and San rivers. The first known historical mention of the city comes from the early 12th-century when it was already ranked as one of the main cities of Poland. The testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth, in which he divided Poland among his sons, designated Sandomierz as the capital of one of the resulting principalities, the Duchy of Sandomierz. In the early 13th century, the second oldest Dominican monastery in Poland was founded in Sandomierz. Within the 13th century, the city suffered grievous damage during the raids by Mongols in 1241, 1260, and 1287. The wooden buildings of the town were completely destroyed. As a result, in 1286 Leszek II the Black, effectively refounded the city. After the reunification of the Polish lands in the 14th century, the former principality became the Sandomierz Voivodeship, incorporating large areas of southeastern Poland. In the middle of the 14th century, the city was burned again during a raid by the Lithuanians. It was rebuilt during the rule of Casimir III of Poland, who extended its privileges. The layout of the city has survived practically unchanged from that time until the present day. Sandomierz prospered until the middle of the 17th century, but the prosperity came to an end in 1655 when Swedish troops captured the city. After briefly holding out in the city, the withdrawing Swedes blew up the castle and caused heavy damage to other buildings. A great fire in 1757 and the First Partition of Poland in 1772, which placed Sandomierz in Austria, further reduced its status. In 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars, fighting between the forces of Austria and the Duchy of Warsaw caused damage to the city. It became part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw and after 1815 it found itself in the Russian Empire ("Congress Poland"). - The wall around the cathedral is "littered" with carved graffiti. Obviously, the stone is soft and the area was unattended for a very long time. This graffiti was the most unique, but disturbing one. Does anybody know, what kind of machine gun this is?

The construction of the "Duomo" began in 1064 by the architect Busketo, who with this structure set the model for the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style of architecture. When the construction of this cathedral started, Pisa was on a height of political (and financial) power. Pisa was an important commercial centre controlling large parts of the Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. In 1017 Pisa had militarily supported the Sardinian "Giudicati" (regional kings) to defeat Saracen troops in the north of Sardinia. Between 1030 and 1035, Pisa defeated rival towns in Sicily. In 1051–1052 admiral Jacopo Ciurini conquered Corsica. In 1063 admiral Giovanni Orlando, coming to the aid of the Norman Roger I, took Palermo from the Saracen. The gold treasure taken from the Saracens in Palermo allowed the Pisans to start the building of the cathedral - and all other building of the "Piazza del Duomo". But the victorious Pisans did not only bring gold back, when they looted an area. They dismantled complete buildings and shipped the marble home, to be used here. Over the centuries all walls of the cathedral, that could be reached, got dotted with carved graffiti. The tip / spire with the cross (left) and the rose, produced with a compass (right) are very common symbols.

The construction of the "Duomo" began in 1064 by the architect Busketo, who with this structure set the model for the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style of architecture. When the construction of this cathedral started, Pisa was on a height of political (and financial) power. Pisa was an important commercial centre controlling large parts of the Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. In 1017 Pisa had militarily supported the Sardinian "Giudicati" (regional kings) to defeat Saracen troops in the north of Sardinia. Between 1030 and 1035, Pisa defeated rival towns in Sicily. In 1051–1052 admiral Jacopo Ciurini conquered Corsica. In 1063 admiral Giovanni Orlando, coming to the aid of the Norman Roger I, took Palermo from the Saracen. The gold treasure taken from the Saracens in Palermo allowed the Pisans to start the building of the cathedral - and all other building of the "Piazza del Duomo". But the victorious Pisans did not only bring gold back, when they looted an area. They dismantled complete buildings and shipped the marble home, to be used here. Over the centuries all walls of the cathedral, that could be reached, got dotted with carved graffiti. Many pilgrims have left tiny crosses.

The construction of the "Duomo" began in 1064 by the architect Busketo, who with this structure set the model for the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style of architecture. When the construction of this cathedral started, Pisa was on a height of political (and financial) power. Pisa was an important commercial centre controlling large parts of the Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. In 1017 Pisa had militarily supported the Sardinian "Giudicati" (regional kings) to defeat Saracen troops in the north of Sardinia. Between 1030 and 1035, Pisa defeated rival towns in Sicily. In 1051–1052 admiral Jacopo Ciurini conquered Corsica. In 1063 admiral Giovanni Orlando, coming to the aid of the Norman Roger I, took Palermo from the Saracen. The gold treasure taken from the Saracens in Palermo allowed the Pisans to start the building of the cathedral - and all other building of the "Piazza del Duomo". But the victorious Pisans did not only bring gold back, when they looted an area. They dismantled complete buildings and shipped the marble home, to be used here. Over the centuries all walls of the cathedral, that could be reached, got dotted with carved graffiti. The winged "Lion of Saint Mark" may represent the evangelist Saint Mark - or the Republic of Venice - or both.

Lucca existed already in Etruscan times and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The Diocese of Lucca dates back to the first century, legends tell, that St. Paulinus, a disciple of St. Peter, was the first Bishop of Lucca. In medieval times Lucca was the residence of the Margraves of Tuscany. After the death of Matilda of Tuscany (1115), Lucca constituted itself as an independent republic. Actually the "Republic of Lucca" existed from 1160 to 1805. The Cathedral of Saint Martin is the seat of the Archbishop of Lucca. The construction of the cathedral started in 1063, when Anselm (later Pope Alexander II) was bishop here. The western facade was begun in 1204 by Guido Bigarelli, who later sculpted (and signed!) the the octogonal baptismal font in the center of the Pisan Baptistery. He is one of the many gifted artists, that came from the area around the Lake Como and are known as "Comacine masters". All around the portico are numerous carved graffiti. Visitors left their names or initials. Some even tried a coat of arms, or a horse.