In 937 a disastrous fire almost entirely destroyed the monastery, but the library fortunately escaped. The abbey and town were rebuilt and fortified, and throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries St. Gall maintained its place in the front rank of monastic establishments. It has however been proven that the 9th-century construction did follow the plan at least in part. The plans for the renovation of the monastery complex, including the construction of the official buildings and the present cathedral, date from the early 18th century.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. Under his direction a monastery was built, many privileges and benefactions being upon it by Charles Martel and his son Pepin, who with Othmar as first abbot, are reckoned its principal founders. The earliest biographical account of Gall, of which only a fragment survives, dates from the 8th century. …studied (as at Inden and St. Gall). He lived in his cell until his death in 646, and was buried there in Arbon. A chapel was erected on the spot occupied by his cell, and a priest named Othmar was placed there by Charles Martel as custodian of the saint's relics. All that remains to be seen is to what extent Abbot Gozbert’s plan did in fact serve as a direct model for the extension to this particular architectural ensemble, or whether it ought to be taken rather as a sort of principle for monastic organization in the Benedictine Order. Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Short history of the Abbey of St. Gall In 612 AD, the Irish monk Gall built his monastic cell in a region of the north-eastern Switzerland, which now took from him the name of the canton of St. Gallen. Through their efforts the monastic spirit, the schools and the studies all revived and attained to something of their former greatness. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. Inside, the building is organized around the central space of the rotunda, while the architecture of the great nave seems to make it continue on into the choir. The effect sought here is not movement, but rather a stable, calm balance. The conventual buildings, besides the bishop's palace, now accommodate also the cantonal offices and what remains of the library — about thirty thousand volumes and manuscripts. Down the centuries, building work was periodically made necessary by a succession of fires and destructions. 359), and Hartker's "Antiphonarium" (nos. The chief manuscripts produced by it, still extant, are the "Antiphonale Missarum" (no. By 1773, structural problems had already made remedial work necessary. The interior decoration is essentially confined to the ceilings (Christian Wenzinger for the dome and nave and Josef Wannemacher for the choir), with religious scenes and figures depicted in skies decorated with sombre brown clouds. Around 613 Gallus, according to tradition an Irish monk and disciple and companion of Saint Columbanus, established a hermitage on the site that would become the monastery. In 1623, St Othmar's church was renovated, which involved demolishing St Michael's Chapel to allow the nave to be extended westwards. The question remains controversial. The east and west walls are of sober appearance, decorated with only a few statues.