Eglise Saint-Martin à Limoux, Catholic church in Limoux, France.
Eglise Saint-Martin is the parish church of Limoux, built of light brown masonry beside the Aude and the Pont-Neuf. Its Romanesque nave of three vessels was kept when the Gothic choir was added, with an ambulatory and five apsidal chapels; five lateral chapels sit between the buttresses. A slender multi-tiered spire rises to the right, a smaller tower with pyramidal roof near the west end.
The church is first documented in 1120 and was originally linked to Saint-Hilaire Abbey. In 1208 it passed to the ownership of Prouille monastery.
The organ case, inscribed with the name of Pierre de Montbrun and dated 1740-1742, was listed as a monument historique in 1967; Jean-François Picard L'Épine reworked it from 1767 to 1772 and Théodore Puget altered it in 1871. Pierre Vialle restored it in 1994 and Michel Formentelli completed work in 2015. The carved wooden baldachin dates from the 18th century.
The church tower was reconstructed in 1777 after lightning damage and serves as the highest point in Limoux. The building functions as a visible reference point for navigating the town.
The church nearly became a cathedral: Pope John XXII raised it to that rank in 1317, but the decision was reversed in 1318 at the request of Prouille monastery, whose nuns would have lost an important tithe. Construction of the still unfinished church stopped at that point.
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