Painted Ceilings in Capestang

Capestang is a sleepy village not far from Narbonne in Southern France. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the Archbishops in Narbonne.

The village lies at the bottom of a steep hill, where the local lords – le Gaucerand – had a castle. In the 12^th century the archbishop from Narbonne built the castle, which still stands. During the Albigensian crusade les Gaucerand were hunted down and eliminated. This made room for the expansion of the bishop’s power. Dendrochronology has dated the great hall of the castle to between 1237 and 1279. Later in the 14^th century Bernard Fargues (1311 – 1341), who was a nephew of Pope Clement V, had the great hall decorated with murals showing the heraldic signs of his family as well as those of the Archbishop of Narbonne and the King of France.

At that time the hall was vaulted. However in the 15^th century, two archbishops, John Harcourt (1436-51) and Louis (1451-1460) capped the hall with a wooden ceiling, reducing the height of the room to 4.5 meters. At the same time the hall was divided into three minor chambers. This can be deduced from the programme of paintings, which the wooden ceiling still carries (and which is the real reason for visiting Capestang).

In its day the castle was home to the archbishop and his administration and court and it is believed to have been a cherished stop on the itinerary between the 18 castles, which belonged to the Archbishop.

However, in the 17^th century the chapel was in ruins and in the 18^th century the castle only served as the setting for the local court. In 1791 the castle was sold and used as a private residence. A thorough rebuilding nearly destroyed the ceiling. However in 1855 the ceiling was lowered even more and the late medieval splendour was hidden until late in the 20^th century. The castle has been open to the public since 2008.

The city also boasts of an aborted collegiate church from the 13^th century of which only the choir, a tower and a short aisle was finished.

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On the website it is possible to see a slideshow of all the 161 fascinating painted boards with their profusion of motives showing loving couples engaged in dancing, hunters, soldiers, dogs and grotesques.