Editing Toulouse (section)

====Basilica of Saint-Sernin====
[[Saint-Sernin Basilica|Basilica of Saint-Sernin]], part of the [[Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France|Way of Saint James]] [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], was also in itself a major place of pilgrimage. It is one of the two largest surviving [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] churches in Europe.<ref group="note">[[Speyer cathedral]] is slightly larger, but unlike Saint-Sernin this church has been largely destroyed and rebuilt in its history, so the question of which is the largest remaining Romanesque church depends on the criteria chosen as to Romanesque character.</ref> With more than two hundred relics (including that of [[Saturnin|Saint Saturnin]] who gave his name to the church), many of which were donated by [[Charlemagne]] to the shrine that preceded the present church, Saint-Sernin is the church with the most relics after Saint Peter of Rome.<ref name="PatrimoineRevele">Jean-Claude Jaffé, "''Toulouse, le patrimoine révélé''". Éditions Privat, 2013.</ref>

Conceived from the outset as a gigantic reliquary, the church was mainly built at the end of the 11th century and at the beginning of the 12th century to welcome the crowds of pilgrims, its double-sided aisles and the ambulatory surrounding the apse make it the archetype of the great pilgrimage church, where pilgrims could make the circuit around the church and were able to stop for meditation and prayer at the apsidal chapels of the transept and the radiating chapels of the choir. The church is also particularly noteworthy for the quality of its Romanesque sculptures, including numerous capitals and the historiated tympanum of the Miègeville gate, one of the first of its kind.<ref name="SeeYouInToulouse">Quitterie and Daniel Cazes, "See you in Toulouse". Éditions Sud-Ouest, 2018.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Basilica of Saint-Sernin">
File:Basilique_Saint-Sernin_de_Toulouse_-_exposition_ouest-1-.jpg|Basilica of Saint-Sernin
File:Toulouse Saint Sernin (2012.08) 08.jpg|The east side is the oldest part.
File:Tympan_de_la_porte_Miegeville.jpg|Romanesque tympanum of Miègeville gate (late 11th c. or early 12th c.)
File:Console_aux_personnages_symmétiques.JPG|Romanesque sculptures
File:Nef de la Basilique Saint-Sernin. - FRAC31555 18Fi019.jpg|The central nave of the church
</gallery>