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Origin and history

The church of St. Louis of Uza was built in the industrial context of the 19th century, when the hamlet of Uza, centered around the forges founded in 1759 by the family of Lur Saluces, became an independent parish in 1865. The private chapel of the castle of Uza, too small to accommodate the workers and their families, pushes Romain-Bertrand of Lur-Saluces to finance the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Louis. The plans are entrusted to the Bordeaux architect Louis-Michel Garros, specialist in religious buildings and wine castles.

The first stone was laid on 6 May 1867 by the bishop of Aire and Dax, in the presence of the workers of the forges. The work, costing 150,000 francs, was completed in 1869, but the sponsor, Romain-Bertrand de Lur-Saluces, died the day after the construction began. The church, a neo-Gothic style with a three-span nave and a Benedictine bedside, is equipped with an altar from the workshop of Jean-Alexandre Chertier. It remained the property of the Lur-Saluces family until 1986, when it was transferred to the commune for a symbolic franc.

The interior houses three 16th century painted wooden statues from the old chapel of Contis: Our Lady of Contis, Saint Anne and Saint Mary Magdalene. These works, placed under neo-Gothic dais, illustrate the local religious heritage. The southern chapel, dedicated to the Virgin, presents a fresco of 1890 signed by G. Vincent, evoking the medieval pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Contis, with scenes of popular devotion and Dutch landscapes. The church, registered with the Historical Monuments in 2003, bears witness to the social and industrial history of the Landes.

The northern chapel, reserved for the family of Lur-Saluces, has a heraldic decoration (SL monograms and crowns) while the southern chapel, intended for the director of the forge, celebrates the Virgin with lilies and Marian inscriptions. The choir, in semicircular apse, is framed by two lateral chapels forming a Benedictine bedside. A statue of Our Lady of Aquitaine, reduction of the work of Chertier adorning the Pey-Berland tower in Bordeaux, completes iconography.

The Saint-Louis church also symbolizes the legitimist anchor of its founders: Romain-Bertrand de Lur-Saluces, a convinced legitimist, associates his Christian faith with his political commitment. The first priest, Dominique-Emile Lartigue, was honoured in 1883 with a commemorative plaque. The building, originally designed for 500 to 600 faithful, accompanies the population boom of Uza, built in 1870 with 680 inhabitants.

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