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Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Croix, located in Oloron-Sainte-Marie (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), is founded in 1080 by Amat, bishop of Oloron, on the site of a disappeared basilica. It became the parish church of the feudal city of Sainte-Croix, before the construction of St Mary's Cathedral in 1102. The canons, subject to the rule of the Augustins, completed the building under the Abbatiate of Odon de Bénac, successor of Amat. Transformed into a Protestant temple in 1569, it was restored to Catholic worship in 1621 by the Cordeliers.

Ranked a historic monument in 1846, then in poor condition, the church was restored in the 19th century by Abbé Menjoulet, his parish priest and historian. The latter undertook its enlargement and the removal of a neo-Roman portal added to the western facade, to restore its original Romanesque architecture. The nave, vaulted in a cradle, and the collaterals retain novel capitals with plant or biblical motifs, partially repainted in the 19th century.

The building combines Benedictine and Mozarabic influences, visible in its veined dome inspired by the Aljaferia of Zaragoza or the mosque of Cordoba. The transept, surmounted by a bell tower, houses a Spanish Baroque altarpiece classified in 1959, by Jean Dartigavave (1708). Tombstones from the 17th and 18th centuries, discovered in 1986, litter the ground. The 19th century murals by Bertrand Bernard and Romain Cazes illustrate biblical scenes such as the Passion or the Last Judgment.

The Church of St. Croix embodies the turbulent religious history of Oloron, marked by conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, successive restorations and its central role in local spiritual life since the Middle Ages. His furniture, such as Raymond Diumidou's chair and stalls (1717), bears witness to his rich artistic heritage.

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