Basilica of Saint Sernin

The city of Toulouse in France happens to be the home to a UNESCO World Heritage site. Actually, it happens to have two of them. Both of them are just partial listings. The Canal du Midi starts from the city of Toulouse as it makes it way to the Mediterranean Sea. The second UNESCO site is the Basilica of Saint Sernin, which is just part of the bigger Routes of Santiago de Compostela listing. I have already seen part of the Canal du Midi in Carcassonne and I am now here to see the Basilica of Saint Sernin. For starters the name of the saint which the basilica is dedicated to have been confusing me. He apparently has different names, Saint Saturnin, Saint Saturnino and Saint Sernin. It turns out that Saint Saturnin is the Latin name, Saint Saturnino is Spanish and Sernin is the French and Catalan name.

Saint Sernin is one of the seven bishops who were sent from Rome to Gaul, now France, to head the church here. Incidentally, Saint Trophimus of Arles, which I visited a couple of days earlier, was one of these bishops. Upon his martyrdom, Saint Sernin’s remains were housed in small church but pilgrims on their way to the Santiago de Compostela would pay homage to him. The numbers grew so much that a bigger place was needed – the Basilica of Saint Sernin. Now, it is part of the Routes of Sanitago de Compostela UNESCO World Heritage site.

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