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| graffiti was interesting |
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| on the sidewalk |
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| doors into a cellar |
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| more graffiti...and in a nice neigborhood...just across the street from the art museum... |
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| Le Chateu de Versailles a Arras
The Abbey Saint-Vaast of Arras was the largest convent
complex of the eighteenth century…Saint Vaast abbey was founded in the 7th
century on the site of the oratory where it is said that Saint Vaast, the first
bishop of Arras who died in 540, sometimes came for a retreat. Saint Aubert,
Bishop of Arras and Cambrai, brought here some of the remains of Saint Vaast. A
very important donation made by the Merovingian king Thierry III allowed it to
grow in the next century. Various construction campaigns succeed one another
and allowed the abbey to be organised around a Gothic church built in the
second half of the 13th century. However,
little by little, the monastery posed many maintenance problems. In 1743, the
community decided to completely rebuild the church and these disparate
buildings. However, the site was unfinished at the time of the Revolution. The
monks were expelled in 1789. The abbey church, still under construction, was
offered by Napoleon to the bishop to make it his cathedral. The monastic
buildings were reassigned. The museum was set up there in 1832. It did not
escape the First World War: on July 5, 1915, the abbey burned down. The fire
devastated the buildings, museum collections and the printed wealth of the
library. The abbey was reduced to ruins and the municipality of Arras thought
about preserving it in this state, as a testimony to the martyr status of the
city. It took all the strength of conviction of Pierre Paquet, architect of the
reconstruction of the city, to convince everyone of the architectural
importance of the building and the need to reconstruct it. The restoration
began in 1920 and lasted fourteen years. Today, the city of Arras has brought
together the museum, the conservatory, the cultural office and the media library
within the abbey to make it a place of cultural and artistic innovation, a
place of influence for the city. (from their webpage)
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There were doors that caught our eye:
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| (Sylvie is a linens designer...not sure re the donkey) |
and statues:
And, of course, one of my favorites:
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| St. Jo is a private school (St. Josephs) |
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| I think this is a cathedral...it was getting late and I was tired.. |
Next up: Dave goes walkabout...
