Crypte Saint-Martial

From the 9th century onwards, the Benedictine abbey of Saint Martial stood on the site of today's Place de la République. An important stopover and place of meditation on the Route Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, it was also an artistic and intellectual center for the entire medieval Christian West. Indeed, a scriptorium (workshop where manuscripts were produced) had developed in the abbey, and from the 10th to the 12th century, the art of illumination enjoyed its golden age here. Saint-Martial de Limoges, thanks to the "tropes" composed by the monks, also became famous for its polyphonic music. The word "troubadour" - the performer of tropes - was born from the name of these pieces of music. It was also thanks to Saint-Martial that champlevé enamels were distributed throughout Europe. In decline during the Hundred Years' War, the abbey was abandoned in 1789 and demolished