Going to the Basilica of Saint Sernin

I was pleasantly surprised to run into a church, Notre-Dame du Taur, which was directly related to Saint Sernin. I was originally going to see the Basilica of Saint Sernin which is a totally different church. I didn’t expect to run into the original church where his remains were buried. Saint Sernin seems to be a very important figure here in Toulouse. Turns out that he was the first bishop of Toulouse. I had to do some research as to why Saint Sernin was martyred. To get to the church Sernin would need to pass by the capitol where there was a pagan altar. The gods of the pagans supposedly were silent due to the constant presence of Sernin. Because of this, the pagans captured Sernin and tied him to a bull to be dragged around until the rope broke.

The rest is probably history, the rope did break, and Sernin died and was later canonized as a saint. His remains are now kept in the basilica which was erected in his honor. The basilica is considered to be the largest Romanesque building in the Europe, perhaps the world. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage under the listing Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. I had my GPS with me so it was easy for me to find the basilica. Otherwise, with the narrow streets of Toulouse city center, it would have been difficult for me to find it.

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