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Origin and history

The bell tower of Mimizan is the last vestige of the Prioral Church of St Mary, built between the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century. This brick and alios monument, covered with chestnut shingles and surmounted by an octagonal arrow, houses a carved portal around 1220, considered one of the most beautiful sets of medieval sculptures in the Landes. Ranked a historic monument in 1903, it also preserves 15th century murals depicting scenes of the Passion of Christ, rediscovered in 2000.

The church of St. Mary, according to a legend reported in the Breviary of Lescar (1541), was built at the site of a 6th century religious building, linked to the martyrdom of St. Galactoire, bishop of Lescar, in 506. However, the archaeological excavations of 1992 did not confirm this origin, instead placing the construction between the first half of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century. The church, which became priorial and later parish, was replaced in 1891 by the church of Notre-Dame du Bourg because of its old age. Its destruction, decided in 1887, spared only the bell tower-porch, now classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco as the Chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle.

The portal of the bell tower-porch, carved in a style combining Spanish and Saintongese influences, presents a tympanum unique in France in the shape of a crescent, illustrating the Adoration of the Magi kings. Three superimposed voussures represent respectively the wise and foolish Virgins, eleven prophets of the Old Testament, and the work of the months accompanied by the signs of the zodiac. Above, a gallery of polychrome statues from the beginning of the thirteenth century shows ten apostles framing a Christ in glory, including a rare representation of St James the Major in pilgrim's clothing, emphasizing the importance of Mimizan on the compostellane coastal path.

The 15th century murals, rediscovered in 2000, cover 26 m2 and depict four scenes of the Passion of Christ: the Arrestation, the Judgment before Pilate, the Flagellation, and the Cross Bearing. Their style, marked by a primitive use of perspective, evokes artistic influences such as those of Jean Fouquet, a painter appointed by Louis XI. These frescoes may have been commissioned by the family of Albret, the legal lords of Mimizan, and reflect an iconography related to Christian justice, the porch serving as a hearing place for the local community.

The history of the priory, founded in the 10th century and given to the abbey of Saint-Sever by Guillaume Sanche, Duke of Gascogne, is closely linked to the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela. The church, looted by the Huguenots in 1569 and abandoned by the Benedictines in 1671, suffered the partial destruction of its bell tower in 1735, then the collapse of its choir in 1790. In 1898–99, architect Cloüet demolished what remained of the nave, retaining only the bell tower, restored between 1981 and 1986. The sculptures were in turn restored from 1998, revealing an exceptional artistic and historical heritage.

The bell tower, approximately square (6.90 × 6.38 m), is opened by three brick-broken arches on its west, north and south facades. Inside, a dogive vault rests on carved crows, while a high room, accessible by a stair turret, is lit by small rectangular windows. The oriental gate, today condemned, is surmounted by a gallery of apostles and 15th century murals, testifying to the iconographic and architectural richness of this emblematic monument of the Landes.

Future

Le Clocher-porche is one of the 71 monuments and 7 portions of paths 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 the Way of Soulac (or way of the coast or way of the English) which departs from Soulac-sur-Mer in France and ends in Irun in Spain.

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