Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Quitterie, also known as Saint Peter, stands on the hill of Mas, south-west of Aire-sur-l-l-Adour (Landes). Its history dates back to an ancient Roman temple dedicated to Mars, converted into a Baptistery by the bishops of the Tarusates. The site, venerated for a pagan source reinvested by the cult of Saint Quittterie, martyred wisigoth, was given in the eleventh century to Benedictine monks. The latter founded an abbey to animate the pilgrimage, before the wars of Religion devastated the site in 1569. The church, rebuilt in Gothic style from the end of the 13th century, preserves a bedside of the 11th–12th century and a medieval crypt.

The Gothic portal, mutilated during the Wars of Religion, presents a sculpted Last Judgment: the Christ in majesty throne with tympanum, surrounded by scenes of Paradise and Hell on lintels. The capitals of the choir, decorated with Romanesque motifs (lions, demons, sinners), evoke Toulouseian or local influences like Saint-Sever. The sarcophagus of Saint Quittrie, marble of the fourth–fifth century covered with biblical bas-reliefs, was classified in 1903. This monument, classified in 1840 and registered at UNESCO in 1998 for its link with the roads of Compostela, symbolizes the Christianization of pagan places.

The neighboring abbey, transformed into a seminary in 1661 and later secularized, now houses a high school. The church, an ancient cathedral, remains a major stage of via Podiensis, attracting pilgrims from the Middle Ages housed in hospices such as the Mas. Its architecture thus combines Romanesque heritage (crypt, bedside), Gothic (gate, nave) and Baroque (retirement of the Mazzetti brothers), testifying to its multiple reconstructions.

The frescoes of the crypt (14th century) and the underground tombs, where the madmen were locked in search of healing by Saint Quitterie, recall medieval practices of devotion and medicine. The decline of the abbey after the wars of Religion reflects the decline of the ancient Episcopal City of Aire-sur-l-l-Adour. Today, the church and its classified sarcophagus embody both an exceptional artistic heritage and a living memory of the Jacquarian pilgrimage.

Future

The Church of Saint-Quitterie is one of the 71 monuments as well as 7 portions of paths that have been inscribed since 1998 on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the official title of "Chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle en France".

It is on the way to Via Podiensis, or "Voy du Puy", from Puy-en-Velay to the Basque village of Ostabat, where it joins via Turonensis and via Lemovicensis gathered shortly before.

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