One of several wall paintings depicting the Legend of Saint Catherine in the Collegiate Church of Saint-Emilion, medieval village in the heart of the Bordeaux wine area in the Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The church was founded in 1110 and remodelled between the 1200s and 1400s.
Saint-Emilion, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France: legend of Saint Catherine fresco in Collegiate Church, founded in 1110 and remodelled between the 1200s and 1400s in Gothic style. The religious community installed here between the 1100s and 1700s was a college of canons following the rule of Saint Augustine. Saint Catherine of Alexandria was an Early Christian Martyr, beheaded with a sword after a spiked wheel shattered at her touch. A collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic community of clergy. The etymology of the word canon comes from the Ancient Greek “Kanôn” which means “the rule”. The canons in Saint-Emilion were Bordeaux’s Archbishop Delegates, making sure that religious life in Saint-Emilion functioned well. Today, the Collegiate Church is the parish church of the village. In the 700s AD, according to legend, a monk called Aemilanus (Emilion) fled from Brittany to seek refuge in a cave in a place called Ascum bas (the former name of the village of Saint-Emilion); he lived the life of a hermit and performed some miracles and after his death his followers called the village after him. In the medieval period, the Saint-Emilion area benefited from its location on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and many churches, monasteries and hospices were built there from the 1000s onwards. The Romans introduced viticulture to the area and the industry developed further during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, covering Saint-Emilion and the seven villages that surround it and their vineyards, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Collegiate Church, Saint-Emilion, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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