La tour romane


La tour romane, originally uploaded by Paul Grand.

On Sunday 'Beziers central' had a bit of a cloud hanging over it.
So, I got the dog into the car and headed north.
From the road to the mountains I spotted this remarkable tower sticking out of the sunlit vines.
I took a right and investigated, Leo, the mountain dog, had a great time, and I was happy to see the clouds
as in the photo, left behind in the distance.
This 10th century Franco Roman tower is just outside the medieval village of Puissalicon.
Its just a short 10 min drive north from my coastally situated Beziers.
Its known as a veritable masterpiece of Romanesque art in Languedoc.
Its 4.3m wide and stands at 26m.
It was built as a bell tower for the church of Saint Etienne de Peazan priory.
These buildings are now lost in the mists of time, probably during the wars of religion.
All that remains is a fragment of an arch top, left on display at the base of the tower.
This is one of the most precious monuments of the region of Beziers.

I was very lucky to find this 'Tour' bathed in a biblical light,
seeing this site much as the original 10th century Gallo-Romano people saw it.

Comments

Anji Johnston said…
What a beautiful scene - how lucky you are to have this so close to you. Constant inspiration I'm sure.
Love the flypaper textures by the way!
Steve Law said…
"Biblical light"
I like that. I remember watching something on the making of Lord of the Rings where they were talking about shooting the Rivendell set and how they called that very clear autumnal glow they gave it 'the light of God'
I really rated the film incidentally (not the book) so this is a compliment, in case anyone was in any doubt...
Coby said…
WOW! Looks like a Maxfield Parrish painting!! Beautiful Paul!

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