Aire Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Aire) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

dedicated to

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

in the town of

Aire-sur-l'Adour Aire-sur-l'Adour (; oc, Aira d'Ador or simply ) is a commune in the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Adour in the wine area of southwest France. It is an episcopal see of the Diocese of Aire and D ...

in the Landes département of France. It was the seat of the Bishops of Aire until the diocese was abolished in 1801 and again from 1822 when the diocese was restored; in 1857 it was renamed the

Diocese of Aire and Dax The Diocese of Aire and Dax (Latin'':'' ''Dioecesis Adurensis et Aquae Augustae''; French: ''Diocèse d'Aire et Dax'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It comprises the ''département'' o ...

. In 1933 the bishop moved to

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

, making

Dax Cathedral Dax Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Dax) is a Roman Catholic church in the town of Dax in the Landes département of France. The diocese of Dax was not restored after the French Revolution but with several others, including Aire, wa ...

his seat, when the cathedral at Aire became a co-cathedral. It was listed as a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

in 1906.

History

The cathedral is situated in the lower town, where the bishops used to live. In origin a structure of the 11th and 12th centuries, it was subject to much alteration between the 14th and 17th centuries and its present appearance shows a variety of styles. The great rotunda on the chevet is especially noticeable. From the 12th century there remain three bays and an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. The severe 13th century façade, surmounted by a tower with a slate roof, has a simple vaulted portal with a pointed arch. The present

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

is in origin a

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

of the 14th century, with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

vaulting supported by central pillars; this is of Tolosan construction and evokes the "palm trees" of the Dominicans. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

has

ogive An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

vaults of the 14th century. The quire is flanked by four

apsidiole An apsidole or absidiale is a small or secondary apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherica ...

s giving onto the transept. The organs and side-altars are of the late 18th century, as are the stalls, the high altar and the rest of the handsome furnishings. While the apse is being extended towards the park, the

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very large ...

, a stone building of the 17th century, is being used for temporary exhibitions. The overall dimensions of the cathedral are 48 metres in length, 8 metres in width across the nave and 15 metres in height to the highest point of the vault.

Pilgrimage

Aire Cathedral marks a stage on the

Via Podiensis The Via Podiensis or the Le Puy Route is one of the four routes through France on the pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Great in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwest Spain. It leaves from Le-Puy-en-Velay and crosses the countryside ...

, one of the pilgrimage routes of the Way of St. James of Compostela, running from

Le Puy-en-Velay Le Puy-en-Velay (, literally ''Le Puy in Velay''; oc, Lo Puèi de Velai ) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its ca ...

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

via the

Pass of Roncevaux Roncesvalles Pass, Ronceval Pass or Roncevaux Pass (; ; ; elevation 1057 m) is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees near the border between France and Spain. The pass itself is entirely in Spain. Location The pass is located between the towns o ...

References

External links

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Location
{{coord, 43, 42, 2, N, 0, 15, 44, W, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Churches in Landes (department)