100 Churches in Paris and elsewhere

  The parish the church is named after was founded by James II, King of Majorca, before the island was known as a beach resort, when it was a fairly short-lived kingdom which was meant to include Montpellier. Inaugurated in 1321, this is a church linked to those interesting times when there was more than one pope : the last of the Avignon popes, who were opposed to the popes of Rome, convened a council here from November 1408 to March 1409 (Avignon is only two and a half hours up the motorway from here). During the French revolution it was used as an armoury, and the Church got it back in 1803.   Beautiful statue scene of Jesus getting baptized, fine pulpit. Classy-looking confessional kind of carved into the wall. And another, rather well-known, « laying in the tomb » group of statues.

Fourteenth century Gothic cathedral, dedicated to John the Baptist, well-known curtain-raiser act for Jesus Christ and known to Muslims as the prophet Yahya. John had a successful career as preacher and influencer, but eventually was beheaded, apparently for criticizing Royalty. Well after his death, some claimed he had been the long-awaited Messiah, but by far the majority voted for Jesus.   Comes along with cloister. The building of the cathedral was delayed for a few decades because of the Black Death ! The church has eighteen chapels, lovely swirly marble floors, and Stations of the Cross which appear to be in beaten metal. There are also some ornate golden altarpieces. Finally, you can see an impressive group of statues of « Jesus being laid in the tomb » - about which I have no further information.