Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède de Tarbes

Tarbes

Sède comes from the Latin sedes, the seat: Sainte-Marie-de-la-Sède was the church where the Bishop of Bigorre had his seat. A first basilica probably stood here from the end of the 4th century; but in 844 the Normans ravaged Gascony, destroyed the town and its church, and the see was abandoned. It was not until the 11th century that a new cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin. The present building came into being between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, from east to west, with the materials of the area: rounded pebbles from the nearby mountain torrents (gaves), laid in herringbone between courses of brick, and, for the lower part of the apse and transept, marble-like limestone from around Lourdes alternating with brick in a chequerboard pattern. The choir and transept are Romanesque; the nave, the lantern tower and the bell tower were continued in Gothic. Burnt in 1460, the cathedral suffered still more from the Wars of Religion, which led to its walls being raised and pierced with mirandes (lookout openings). The nave vault bears the arms of Bishop Salvat II d'Iharce, who held the see from 1602 to 1648; it was also in this cathedral, it is reported, that a student from Toulouse, Vincent de Paul, was ordained deacon in 1598 by the Bishop of Tarbes. The 18th century gave the interior its present appearance: above the high altar, the baldachin by the Toulouse sculptor Marc Arcis, six marble columns carrying a gilded wooden dome; in the nave, churchwardens' pews extended by confessionals whose coats of arms the Revolution chiselled off to carve “Liberté” and “Égalité de droit”; to the west, a classical façade that lengthens the nave.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède de Tarbes ↗

Getting there : Place du Général-de-Gaulle (address given by the Inventaire), in the town centre. Opening times, visiting conditions and free entry to be checked. A small garden and a porch, on the flank of the cathedral, recall the vanished cloister and display a few original capitals.

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

Ambient sound