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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Course-Landaise Chapel, also known as the Chapel of Bostens, is a religious building located in Bascons, in the Landes. Probably built in the 15th century to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the Bostens district, it was originally used as a parish church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, whose feast is still celebrated around July 22. Its exact origin remains unclear, but a date engraved above the door (1773) suggests further work. Bordered by a historic cemetery, it embodies the link between Christian worship and local memory.

The chapel was transformed into a Tauromachic sanctuary in the 1970s and was converted to Raoul Laporterie, Mayor of Bascons, and Abbé Xavier Tapie, parish priest from 1942 to 1976. Inaugurated on May 7, 1970, it is renamed Notre-Dame-de-la-Course-Landaise and includes a collection dedicated to gasconne tauromachie, alongside arenas, a museum (closed in 2020) and a memorial. Its modest architecture (unique nave, round apse) and its decorations (status of the Virgin supporting an injured spreader, Tauromachic stained glass windows) reflect this dual religious and cultural vocation.

The chapel houses an annual pilgrimage on the Thursday of Ascension, combining religious service and tribute to the figures of the Landes race. Its symbolic elements, such as the four Evangelists represented with biblical attributes (lion, eagle, bull), or the cow frontal supporting the altar, reinforce its unique identity. Ranked among the sites supported by the Heritage Foundation in 2023 for its restoration, it remains a place of devotion for the coursayres (separators and jumpers) and a testimony of the Dutch heritage, where faith and taurine tradition intersect.

The building, built in grey shell stone, has late Romanesque features (clocher-pignon, narrow nave) and baroque additions (door dated 1773). Its interior preserves remarkable works, such as the tauromachique pietà carved in 1970 by Martin Gallasteguy (after a drawing by François Meyney), or paintings restored by a Nîmes artist who was a refugee during the Second World War. The gallery, accessible by a staircase of 13 steps, recalls the stands of the arenas, highlighting the dialogue between sacred and secular.

Close to the arenas of Bostens (only in Landes with those of the village), the chapel is part of a rural landscape marked by the Landes race, an emblematic sport of the region. His renovation by Abbé Tapie preserved a place where parish memory (family cemetery) and popular culture blend together, while his selection by the Heritage Foundation in 2023 bears witness to his heritage importance. The bells, operated manually to rule out thunderstorms, add a legendary dimension to this atypical site.

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