Moissac The Abbey of Saint-Pierre of Moissac

The abbey of Moissac joined Cluny around 1047 and was one of its great houses in the south. Its cloister, finished in 1100, is the oldest surviving cloister with carved scenes, with seventy-six capitals, many of them carved with scenes from the Bible and the lives of the saints, and pillars carved with the apostles.

Its south portal, carved around 1130, shows Christ of the Apocalypse enthroned among the twenty-four elders of the Book of Revelation, each with his own face, and the prophet Jeremiah on the central pillar.

Further reading: Romanesque France: Cluny and the Churches of the Pilgrim Roads; The Way of Saint James from Le Puy: A Pilgrim’s Guide.

• The cloisterSeventy-six capitals, finished in 1100.
• The south portalChrist among the twenty-four elders.

• Via ConchaeThe Way of the Shell, eight daysDay VIII, Moissac

About an hour by road from Toulouse airport.

• CahorsThe Cathedral of Saint-Étienne, about 30 miles as the crow flies
• ToulouseSaint-Sernin and the Jacobins, about 39 miles as the crow flies
• AlbiThe Cathedral of Sainte-Cécile, about 54 miles as the crow flies
• RocamadourThe Shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour, about 55 miles as the crow flies