Fortified and massive, the building seduces with its colossal dimensions and its stained glass windows. After visiting the fortress, extend your visit to the village towards the church: a fine example of southern Gothic art!
Built in the middle of the XNUMXth century at the instigation of Alphonse de Poitiers, Count of Toulouse and brother of the King of France, the Church of Saint John the Evangelist is a perfect testimony to the reconquest of the region by the Catholic power, in the day after the crusade against the Cathars. After climbing the village and visiting the fortress, let yourself be surprised by this monument of imposing proportions.
A witness of regional history
The Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Najac was built between the fortified town, dominated by the fortress , and the Pause district where pilgrims stayed. Two earlier places of worship had stood on this site: one of Visigothic origin, and the other Romanesque, dedicated to Saint Martin. Following the reconquest of the region by Catholic troops, the royal authority decided to build a new church there, reaffirming Catholic worship based on Cathar doctrine.
The Najac dissidents had to finance the construction of this new place of worship or even work on the site themselves to redeem their behavior vis-à-vis the Church of Rome. Indeed, many of them did not recognize the authority of the Ile-de-France region and were condemned by the Inquisitors to do penance and pay heavy fines. One of the consuls of the city, Huc Paraire, was even burned alive in a public square for heresy.
A characteristic defensive architecture
Directed by the Dominicans, the work was carried out by the Burgundian architect Bérenger Jornet, between 1258 and 1280, and continued at the beginning of the XNUMXth century with the construction of the bell tower and the installation of the stained glass windows, the oldest of which are those of the western rose window. .
Consecrated in 1363, the church was flanked by a door initially forming part of the urban enclosure and was accessible by a portal to the north, surmounted by a Christ on the Cross from the Romanesque period, originally covered with a structural work forming courtyard.
Characteristic of southern Gothic architecture , of which Albi Cathedral, the Jacobins Church in Toulouse, and the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Villefranche-de-Rouergue are perfect examples, the Najac church is a vast stone structure punctuated by powerful buttresses and very small openings. Monumental and austere, the nave, without side aisles, was suited to Catholic preaching, the gathering of the faithful, and the veneration of relics. The building is illuminated on the west side by a large polylobed rose window. This window is decorated with stained glass enhanced with grisaille, dating from the 16th century.
An interior of unsuspected richness
Classified as a Historical Monument since 1924, the church houses some rather exceptional furnishings . Among the most notable elements are a 13th-century wrought-iron gate that once contained a Paschal candle, a sculpted group combining a 15th-century Catalan-style Christ on the Cross, the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist from the 16th century, 17th and 18th-century paintings , choir stalls, a pulpit, a 19th-century Stations of the Cross in hard plaster, and liturgical objects arranged in the wall niches of the choir, including a remarkable 13th-century processional cross.
Created by a craftsman named Barthélémy Gauchy at the end of the 19th century, the nave's stained -glass windows are set within polylobes formed from openwork slabs. Characteristic of the Symbolist artistic movement , they depict the attributes of the four Evangelists, a chalice, the dove of the Holy Spirit, and/or the IHS of Christ. Their exceptionally vibrant colors bring a striking luminosity to the 13th-century building, whose architecture primarily emphasizes its rural character.
Built on an enormous block of schist, the church was built over a large well more than 6 meters deep which allowed the population to take shelter inside and to supply themselves with water in the event of a siege. By kindly asking the caretaker, you will have the opportunity to see it.
Visit St-Jean Church
Rue de l’église 12270 Najac
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