Curled up in a loop of the Cérou river around the St Pierre church, this quiet and harmonious village is recognised for a pinnacle of religious statuary.
In fact, Monestiés shelters twenty life sized statues made of painted limestone which illustrate the three last episodes of the Passion of Christ – the Crucifixion, the Pieta, and the entombment. This masterpiece was commissioned by the bishop of Albi, Louis I of Amboise in 1490 for his castle at Combéfa several kilometers from Monesties. The castle was finally abandoned and partly demolished.
The inhabitants of Monesties were permitted to transport these heavy statues and delivered them on their own to the St Jacques chapel, an ancient hospital for pilgrims to Compostela, where this monumental work remains to this day.
The village also has an enjoyable museum of modern art featuring the canvases of Francisco Bajen and Martine Véga, Spanish artists who were married and had fled the regime of General Franco. Two different styles of art which mix the suffering of exile, spirituality and the search for the inner self.
