Gimel-les-Cascades and the treasures of Saint-Pardoux

The reliquaryThe reliquary | ©Accrochoc / CC-BY-SA

Gimel-les-Cascades owns its name from the several waterfalls (cascades in French) located in the village. Oh, now, follow me in the 15th century church...

We have here 2 gorgeous treasures, we used to find in the destroyed neighbour chapel, dedicated to Saint-Etienne de Braguse.

The first treasure is a reliquary (12th century) made in Limoges. Oh, woah, such a real masterpiece!

Vivid colours, very delicate and detailed characters... This is like a small house, with saint Etienne’s martyr on one side, and saints John, Peter, Paul and Philip on the other side.

Above, angels in medallions. All those characters are made of enamel, except faces, which are in relief. The reliquary is 28 centimetres long, 11 large and 25 high.

And now, the second treasury: the reliquary of saint Dumine (beginning of the 15th century). This life-size chest is made of silver, except hairs and beard, made of gold.

On the chest, we can see 4 coats of arms, probably blazons belonging to the reliquary’s donors: viscounts of Turenne. And by the way, reliquary means relics! This one used to hold saint Dumine’s skull...