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Origin and history

The Church of the Holy Spirit finds its origins at the end of the 12th century, when the order of Saint John of Jerusalem settled in the future Saint-Esprit district of Bayonne to found a hospice and a priory for pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela. In 1243 the order of the Holy Spirit replaced the Hospitallers and gave his name to the neighborhood. The early Romanesque chapel, known as the dou cap de pount, was replaced in 1463 by a new church built on the order of King Louis XI, which granted him an annuity of 4,000 books tournaments. The building, which became a collegiate building, then adopted flamboyant Gothic vaults and was inserted into a dynamic neighbourhood populated by artisans and Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal.

In the 16th century, the church was deeply remodelled, however, keeping two vaults at the cross of original dogives. The 17th and 18th centuries saw successive restorations, before the Revolution dissolved the collegial chapter in 1792, transforming the church into a parish. In the middle of the 19th century, the arrival of the railway industrialized the neighborhood, pushing for a major expansion in the second half of the century: architect Émile Loupot adds the south side, the organ stand and a neo-Roman porch. The church, classified as a historical monument in 2008, has since 1868 been home to relics of Saint Irene and stained glass windows signed by Mauméjean (1906).

Today, the building blends Romanesque elements (flat hair, bell tower-west wall), flamboyant gothic (loose vaulted choir and thirdons) and neo-Romanesque (capitalist porch). Among its treasures, a 15th century polychrome relief represents the Leak in Egypt, while fragments of 13th century stained glass, discovered in 1959, are preserved at the Basque Museum of Bayonne. These original stained glass windows illustrated in particular the tree of Jesse, testifying to the original artistic richness of the place.

The Holy Spirit district, historically linked to the reception of Iberian pilgrims and Jewish communities, saw its church become a symbol of Bayonne's cultural and religious diversity. The college, founded by Louis XI in recognition of the prior's diplomatic services, also reflects the architectural and social evolutions of the city, from the wars of Religion to the industrial revolution. Its inscription in historical monuments underscores its heritage role in the diocese of Bayonne and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

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