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Origin and history

The Collège Notre-Dame d'Uzeste, located in the Gironde department, was originally built in the 13th century as the church of the Blessed Mary. It was enlarged in the early 14th century by Pope Clement V (Bertrand de Got), a native of Aquitaine and former bishop of Comminges. The latter, after his papal election in 1305, erected the church as a collegiate church in 1313, founding a chapter of twelve canons. At his death in 1314 he was buried there according to his will, making Uzeste one of the eight papal necropolises of France. His marble tomb of Carrara, completed in 1359, was vandalized during the Wars of Religion (1577), where his lying man lost his face.

The building, in Gothic style with Romanesque elements, preserves a polychrome tympanum representing the Coronation of the Virgin (south gate) and a funerary slab of Pierre I de Grailly (early 14th century). The nave and bell tower date from the 16th century, while the 19th century stained glass windows are the work of Joseph Villiet. The college also houses two wooden crucifixes (15th and 17th centuries) and a 14th century Virgin with Child. Mathe d'Albret, by will in 1338, founded a chapel and was buried there, although her grave had now disappeared.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840, the collegiate has benefited from restorations, but its bell tower, damaged by defective works, requires since 2020 an estimated renovation of 222 500 €. The project is supported by the Heritage Foundation and the Heritage Lotto (€176,000 allocated in 2020). The building remains a major testimony of Gothic art in Aquitaine and French papal history.

The church plan includes a nave flanked by two collaterals and a sanctuary surrounded by chapels (Saint-Blaise, Sainte-Barbe, etc.), formerly decorated with frescoes. Sixteen pillars support vaults on dogives cross, while a hexagonal tower, pierced by windows, crowns the sanctuary. The collegiate church thus illustrates medieval religious architecture, marked by both Gothic and Romanesque influences.

In the 19th century, stained-glass windows signed by Joseph Villiet completed the ornamentation, while precious liturgical objects, offered by Mathe d'Albret, once enriched her treasure. Today, the college remains a place of worship and heritage, managed by the municipality of Uzeste and open to visit, although some elements, such as the tomb of Clement V, bear the stigmas of past religious conflicts.

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