PTM 2 – SAINT-BÉAT-LEZ HISTORICAL WALK THROUGH MARBLE

A little history before setting off to discover Saint-Béat-Lez :
Since the dawn of time, man has occupied the “Upper Garonne Valley”. The Garumni are thought to be the first people to have occupied this area in prehistoric times.
Local history has it that in 75 BC, soldiers led by Pompey discovered the defile leading to the upper Garonne valley. Some people attribute the first name of Saint-Béat to them: Passus Lupi, the passage of the wolf or wolves.
It would appear that the presence of the Romans enabled marble quarries to be opened in the Pyrenees. It was then transported by river.
During the first centuries AD, the activity of Saint-Béat is attested by the creations that were made.
The Augustan trophy currently on display in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is the earliest dated work of marble from Saint-Béat known to date. It was commissioned by the emperor himself in the 1st century BC.
In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, numerous Gallo-Roman works were produced in Saint-Béat marble.
A group of statues commemorating the victory of Augustus and other remains were discovered at Lugdunum Convanerum, which later became Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges.
Not far from there, marble sarcophagi from Saint-Béat were unearthed at the Saint-Just basilica in Valcabrère, dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries.
During the reign of Charlemagne (date unknown – 814), in the 9th century, the emperor is said to have given the christianised inhabitants the relics of Saint-Béat and Saint-Privat, which are now housed in the church of Saint-Privat, thus giving the village and the church their name.
The Basilica of Saint-Sernin (11th / 12th century) and the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne in Toulouse (16th / 17th century) are just two examples of the use of Saint-Béat marble in artistic works throughout the kingdom. In the 16th century, however, King Henry IV decided to gradually replace it with marble from Carrara in the Alps.
During the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), according to a page in an old school textbook found in the Saint-Béat archives, the inhabitants of Saint-Béat helped the kingdom during the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714). They are said to have helped capture the castle of Castelléon in the Aran Valley. To thank them, the King added the fleur-de-lys to the town’s coat of arms.
In the 17th century, Saint-Béat marble was used for paving in the Louvre, and for statues and elements in Versailles and the Trianon in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the 19th century, Saint-Béat marble was commissioned and used extensively throughout France, as well as in Paris at the Louvre Museum, the Tuileries Gardens and the Assemblée Nationale. The bases and capitals of the famous Opéra Garnier are also made from Saint-Béat marble.
Numerous works can also be seen in Toulouse, notably at the Musée des Augustins, the Musée Saint-Raymond and the statue of Pierre-Paul Riquet on the Allées Jean-Jaurès.
In the 20th century, the arrival of a tramway line to Marignac at the entrance to the Val d’Aran enabled tourists and spa visitors from Bagnères-de-Luchon to explore the valley.