The St. It was built from on the initiative of Viscount of Bearn. Previously, the first church was destroyed in by the Vikings and another church dedicated to the Holy Cross, began to be built in on the other bank of the river Gave. Unrest in related to quarrels with the Albigensian party then riots cause fires and the nave was rebuilt in the thirteenth century. Chapels are then added but the cathedral is again affected this time during the Wars of Religion.
Not until the seventeenth century that the nave was restored and enlarged with the addition of chapels in the eighteenth. The Diocese of Oloron is abolished in when the building is "demoted" to the rank of co-cathedral. Architecturally, the massive bell tower and the defensive Romanesque portal are testimonies of the original building twelfth. The carved decoration of the said portal is particularly remarkable: the theme evokes Christ's cross downhill.
Always at the architectural level, the Gothic sanctuary with ambulatory is another masterpiece of the site. Inside, in terms of furniture and decorations, a pulpit of the seventeenth century, the organ and its buffet seventeenth and eighteenth, nineteenth stained glass are observed. As for the treasure, it is housed in two chapels. Are presented including silverware, representations of St. Grat, the protector of St. Mary, a crib eighteenth, a collection of vestments and reliquary busts.
Open all year for free tours. Tour Treasury daily except Tuesdays in July and August. Free admission. Add to favourites Remove from favourites. Have your say. Romanesque portal of Sainte-Marie cathedral. Sainte-Marie cathedral and its forecourt. Detail of the Romanesque portal of the cathedral.
Canyoning in the Ossau Valley. Visit an artisanal espadrille-making workshop. All leisure activities around the Cathedral Sainte-Marie d'Oloron. La Guinguette des Sardines. All restaurants around the Cathedral Sainte-Marie d'Oloron. Gite the hount des coges. All vacation rentals around the Cathedral Sainte-Marie d'Oloron. All campsites around the Cathedral Sainte-Marie d'Oloron.
