Lescar Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Lescar) 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 * Chris ...

and former

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

dedicated to the

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

. It is located in the town of

Lescar Lescar (; oc, Lescar) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium, the loca ...

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlanti ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It has been listed since 1840 as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

. Eglise de l'Assomption, ancienne cathédrale It was formerly the seat of the

Diocese of Lescar The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lescar (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lascurrensis;'' French: ''Diocèse de Lescar''; Basque: ''Leskarreko elizbarrutia''), in south-western France, was founded in the fifth century, and continued until 1790. It was originall ...

, suppressed under the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

and divided between the dioceses of Agen and

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

History and description

The building was begun in 1120 by Bishop

Guy de Lons Guy de Lons (died 1141), also known as Gui or Guido de Loth, was the Bishop of Lescar from 1115 to 1141. He made extensive travels in Spain on four occasions, three as Papal legate (1119, 1121 and 1138).Richard A. Fletcher, "''Reconquest'' and Crus ...

, and was sacked by the Protestants during the reign of

Jeanne III of Navarre Jeanne d'Albret (Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margaret ...

. It was restored in the 17th and 18th centuries. The apse, housing a pavement mosaic from the 12th century with hunting scenes, is in Romanesque style. In the interior, columns have capitals depicting histories of the life of

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

, of the

birth of Christ The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man na ...

and the

Sacrifice of Isaac The Binding of Isaac ( he, , ), or simply "The Binding" (, ), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Is ...

Royal burials

From the end of the 15th century the cathedral was used as the burial place of the royal family of Navarre.

Francis Phoebus Francis Phoebus ( eu, Frantzisko Febus, french: François Fébus, oc, Francés Fèbus, es, Francisco Febo; 4 December 1467 – 7 January 1483) was King of Navarre (1479–1483), Viscount of Bearn, and Count of Foix (1472). He was the son of Gas ...

was buried here in 1483, followed by

Catherine of Navarre Catherine ( eu, Katalina, oc, Catarina; 1468 – 12 February 1517), Queen of Navarre, reigned from 1483 until 1517. She was also Duchess of Gandia, Montblanc, and Peñafiel, Countess of Foix, Bigorre, and Ribagorza, and Viscountess of Béarn. ...

, her consort

Jean d'Albret John III (french: Jean d'Albret; 1469 – 14 June 1516) was ''jure uxoris'' King of Navarre from 1484 until his death, as husband and co-ruler with Catherine of Navarre, Queen Catherine. He was a son of Alain I of Albret, Alain I, Lord of Albret ...

and several of their children, among them

Henry II of Navarre Henry II (18 April 1503 – 25 May 1555), nicknamed ''Sangüesino'' because he was born at Sangüesa, was the King of Navarre from 1517, although his kingdom had been reduced to a small territory north of the Pyrenees by the Spanish conquest of 151 ...

and his wife

Marguerite de Navarre Marguerite de Navarre (french: Marguerite d'Angoulême, ''Marguerite d'Alençon''; 11 April 149221 December 1549), also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was a princess of France, Duchess of Alençon and Berry, and Queen ...

, grandparents of King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. Of the funerary monuments ordered by Henry II, subjected to iconoclastic damage by Protestants and to the collapse of the sanctuary vault in 1599, nothing remains. Archaeological excavations in 1928-1929 were successful however in rediscovering the royal crypt and the remains of its occupants.Victor Dubarat, "Découverte des tombeaux des rois de Navarre à Lescar", dans ''Revue d'histoire de l'Église de France'', vol. 17, 1931, pp. 450-463

Gallery

File:Lescar (Pyr-Atl, Fr) Cathédrale coté porche.JPG, View from the north-west File:Cathédrale Lescar 1.JPG, Side view File:Lescar Catedral Capitel 1.JPG, Capital File:Mosaique Lescar 1.JPG, 12th-century mosaic File:Tombe rois Navarre 1.JPG, Tomb of the kings of Navarre File:Galactorius.JPG, Statue of Saint Galactorius

References

External links

Location
{{coord, 43, 19, 58, N, 0, 26, 0, W, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Former cathedrals in France Churches in Pyrénées-Atlantiques 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Romanesque architecture in France Monuments historiques of Nouvelle-Aquitaine