Two Loose In Toulouse, 2: Basilica of St. Sernin

From the Capitolium area Google Maps guided us to the Basilica of St. Sernin, a church we had visited in 2013, but were not so taken with: not Gothic. Since 2013, we have come to find Romanesque churches to be of considerable interest...their greater age than Gothics, the lack of light good for contemplation, thick walls good for defense (times were tough), far greater likelihood of seeing the goofy, occasionally obscene Medieval sculpture I favor, and so on. St. Sernin did not disappoint, except in the obscene sculpture department.

The tower rises from the crossing, is Romanesque
until the 4th tier, then, with the spire, Gothic; nobody's
perfect

Helpful illustration: cruciform, extraordinary size, perhaps
only the abbey church at Cluny (now gone) was larger;
combination stone and red brick from the east, became more
brick than stone as construction proceeded to the west...

West portal tympanum: Ascension; we'll come back to the sculpture
later

Nave view: Romanesque indeed

Elevation; not a pointy thing in sight

As with so many of the Romanesque churches we've seen (Autun,
Vezelay, etc.), the sculptural program, especially the capitals, 
always impresses and confounds: here, the Holy Goats, framed
by depictions of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

Seriously, the interior of this church is fairly
overwhelming, especially in its age

The altar consecrated in 1096 by Pope Urban II;
Himself

Not sure when the Holy Cabana was consecrated

Always stern-looking Mandorla pose

Overwhelming view up into the crossing area

Huge old frescoes all around

Ceiling fresco, Mystic Lamb, Byzantine-looking
to us

Cain bonking Abel? Lots of Biblical figures bonked
each other

Among the organs

Helpful chronology

It's pretty much always been a Camino church

Longer term resident peregrino

Now for some of the exterior sculpture, again, mostly
capitals...Massacre of the Innocents

King David playin'

Shepherds killing lions

Hand-holding Expulsion; male angel showing
solidarity with Adam?