Église Sainte-Madeleine de la Magdeleine

Saint-Jean-le-Vieux

In the hamlet of La Magdeleine, less than two kilometres from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, this small church is what remains of a priory dedicated to Mary Magdalene. In the early 13th century, Premonstratensian canons from the abbey of La Case-Dieu founded the abbeys of Lahonce and Urday, together with two priories dependent on Lahonce: that of Ispoure and that of La Madeleine. The church of La Madeleine first appears in a document of March 1328; a hospital that took in pilgrims stood near it. It served as the private chapel of the lords of Irunberri, whose family tombstones are still inside, before becoming in 1568 an annex of the church of Saint-Laurent in Ispoure. In 1828 the parish of La Madeleine was attached to Saint-Jean-le-Vieux. The building, of great simplicity, has a single nave closed to the east by a flat chevet; in the 19th century its wall belfry gave way to a bell tower fronted by a porch.

Getting there : Hamlet of La Magdeleine, Saint-Jean-le-Vieux. Church owned by the commune; opening times to be checked.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound