Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Madeleine de La Magdeleine, built in the 14th century, presents a simple single-ship plan, with a flat bedside and an original bell tower partially transformed. Its modest architecture includes a door of the clots, a porch protecting the west gate, and a roof covered with hollow tiles, with the exception of the slate bell tower. A low sacristy is backed by the bedside, while inside, stands surround the nave, interrupted at the choir. The building reflects a sober construction, marked by later developments such as the bell chamber and the walling of a campanary bay.

Founded as a chapel of a pre-monstrated priory in Lahonce, the church was first mentioned in 1328. This priory, linked to the pilgrimage path, also housed a hospital and was founded by the regular canons of the Case-Dieu, who also established the abbeys of Lahonce and Urday in the thirteenth century. It became a private chapel for the seigneurs of Irunberri (whose funerary slabs remain), and was attached in 1568 to the parish of Saint-Laurent d'Ispoure, and then reunited at Saint-Jean-le-Vieux in 1828. The original bell tower was transformed into a tower tower in the 19th century, and contemporary restorations preserved its historical character.

The building preserves traces of its medieval past, such as the door of the clots in the north dropper wall, a symbol of social discrimination at the time. Its initial role, combined with a hospital and a priory, illustrates the importance of religious establishments on pilgrimage routes. Classified as a Historical Monument in 2008, the church today bears witness to the architectural and spiritual heritage of the Premonstrated in the Basque Country, between Romanesque simplicity and later adaptations.

The family of Irunberri, local lords, left funerary slabs there, marking its appropriation as seigneurial chapel before its integration into the parish network. The meeting of the parish of La Magdeleine at Saint-Jean-le-Vieux in 1828 reflected the post-revolutionary ecclesiastical reorganizations. Recent restorations aim to preserve this building, a witness to the cultural and religious exchanges between Gascogne and the Basque Country.

External links