The Abbey of Saint Hilaire (Aude, France)
Burial place of the Counts of Carcassonne,
Cradle of the Blanquette de Limoux

The beginning of the Abbey is uncertain. Its first reference is a text dating from 825: at this date, the abbey owns the corpse of Saint Hilaire

The abbey church was built at the end of the 12th century,with a simple plan: a unique nave with a semicircular apse and two lateral chapels.The nave features arch vaulting. The transverse ribs were originally intended to bear a wooden frame, however Abbot William 1st, made the nave gothic style in 1257.

Built in the 14th century, the cloister is an irregular trapezoid, with four galleries and 54 arches

The Saint Sernin’sarcophagus is the masterpiece of the abbey church: a work of art in white marble of the Pyrenees.
It represents the arrest, the martyrdom and the burial of Saint Sernin (or Saturnin), first bishop of Toulouse in 250.

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