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Origin and history

The Church of the Carmelites of Trie-sur-Baïse, built around 1450, is one of the few remains of a convent founded in this bastide of the High Pyrénées, established in 1324. Originally located outside the city walls, it illustrates southern Gothic architecture, with a unique vaulted nave and a pentagonal bedside. Backed by a cloister now extinct, the church was surrounded by side chapels, only one of which remains intact. The hundred white marble capitals of the cloister, carefully carved, were dispersed after the destruction suffered by the convent.

In 1569, the convent was set on fire by the Protestants during the Wars of Religion and later restored. However, this restoration coincided with the dispersal of the capitals throughout France and to New York, where 20 of them are still present. After the Revolution, the convent disappeared almost entirely, leaving only the church, transformed a time into a garage, and scattered carved stones. The building, classified as a Historical Monument in 1977, thus bears witness to a religious and artistic heritage fragmented by history.

The church is distinguished by its external foothills once flanked by chapels, now partially destroyed. Its barlong plan and ogival arch make it a characteristic example of the Southern Gothic. Despite the vicissitudes, the site retains a major historical value, linked to both the Order of the Carmelites and the religious upheavals of the sixteenth century. The architectural and sculptural remains recall the past importance of this convent, formerly the spiritual heart of Trie-sur-Baïse.

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