ALTAR OF THE SAVIOR AT THE CROSS & THE
PLACE OF WORSHIP FOR LAYMEN
The space between the second and third transverse partitions
of the nave serves as the parish church for the monastery's
serfs and tenants and as the place of worship for the
pilgrims and visitors. It contains between the sixth pair of
columns the altar of the Saviour at the Cross (altar
scī saluatoris ad crucem). This altar is surmounted by a large
cross shown in horizontal projection, and has ascribed to it
the hexameter:
Crux pia uita salus miseriq, redemptio mundi[39]
Pious cross: life, health, and redemption
of the wretched world
The cross rises 10 feet above the altar, and has a spread of
7½ feet. Altars in honor of the Holy Cross existed in the
abbey churches of Centula, Fulda, Corvey-on-the-Weser,
St. Vaast at Arras, the Cathedral of Le Mans, and at many
other places.[40]
As in the Church of the Plan of St. Gall,
they were located in the axis of the church at a point lying
midway between the eastern and western ends of the
church.