The Capitals of Issoire

The Abbey of Saint-Austremoine owes its name to the first evangelist of Auvergne, Saint Austremoine, sent from Rome in the 3rd century. The current building, constructed in the 12th century, is a masterpiece of Auvergnat Romanesque art with its radiating chapel apse, octagonal bell tower, and polychrome stone mosaics. But it is the capitals that make it unique.

Ninety historiated capitals adorn the columns of the nave and choir. Some tell classic biblical episodes — the Last Supper, the Flagellation, the Entry into Jerusalem. But others defy conventional reading: zodiac signs frame battles between angels and demons, double-tailed sirens hold alchemical objects, human-headed birds form mysterious circles.

In the 19th century, the Auvergnat scholar Mallay hypothesized that these capitals formed an "esoteric alphabet" transmitted from building site to building site by companion builders. Each creature would correspond to a letter or concept, and reading the whole — in a precise order, from entrance to choir — would reveal a message the monks intended to transmit only to the initiated. The crypt, with its restored medieval paintings, deepens the mystery.