Église Sainte-Cécile du Carla, Gothic church in Castelnau-de-Lévis, France.
Église Sainte-Cécile du Carla is a Gothic church in Castelnau-de-Lévis, built in light beige rubble masonry with a sloping roof of reddish-brown terracotta tiles. A lower side aisle runs along the left, and a square stone bell tower with arched openings and a pointed gable rises at the right end, topped by a thin metal cross. The church follows a Latin cross plan with an east-facing chevet and a bell gable pierced by three openings, two of them paired.
The church was built in the 15th century on the site of a village destroyed during the Albigensian Crusade by Simon de Montfort's forces. Its construction represents the community's recovery and renewal following that violent chapter.
The church is dedicated to Saint Cecilia, a Roman martyr, and replaced the Notre-Dame de Mazières church in the 15th century. Since 2011 it has hosted concerts, shows and exhibitions whose proceeds go to associations helping sick children, and it takes part in the European Heritage Days.
The church stands on the road toward Labastide-de-Lévis, and since 2015 a path dug from the building leads down to a new landing stage on the banks of the Tarn, built for tourist gabares arriving from Albi. The site takes part in the European Heritage Days and hosts concerts, shows and exhibitions whose proceeds go to associations for sick children.
A 12th-century stone capital, classed as a historic object, once served as a stoup set into a wall near the porch; it was stolen in 1980. Two other listed objects, a 15th- or 16th-century crucifix and an early 16th-century Virgin and Child, were moved to Marssac-sur-Tarn in 1957.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,958 contributors worldwide.