LA CATHÉDRALE SAINTE-MARIE

Built on the mound of the Grand Bayonne on the site of a burnt-out Romanesque cathedral, this architectural jewel, a masterpiece of French Gothic art, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Routes of St. James. Work began in 1258 and was completed at the end of the Hundred Years' War. You can contemplate the cathedral's chevet and the superb, well-restored stained glass windows in the high windows, particularly in the chapel of Saint-Jérôme, probably the most beautiful in the cathedral (1531): here, Christ drives out the demon from the body of the Canaanite woman (he escapes in the form of a bat). Also famous for its two spires, added in the ^19th century. And let's not forget the cathedral's now-famous bells. There's the 2-tonne Sainte-Marie bell, cast in 1819 and sounding C, the 900kg Saint-Léon bell, cast in 1955 and sounding E, the 500kg Christ-Roi bell, cast in 1955 and sounding G, and the 350kg Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc bell, cast at the same time and sounding A. Finally, in 2003, the first drone cast in Europe for this millennium, Saint-Jacques, weighing 3,640 kg, completes the ensemble. "Bells are the instrument of the call that unites mankind As the sacred meets the profane, they also signal the unfolding of daily life. The latest addition, made in a foundry in Normandy and decorated by Marc-Antoine Orellana, boasts a perfect mastery of sound, thanks to the founder Luigi Bergamo, who respected the old-fashioned bronze casting method, composed of 78% copper and 22% tin, and surrounded himself with an electronic spectrum tuner. A few years later, during a storm, a side keystone collapsed, cutting an impressive hole in the cathedral slab. After many months of work, the keystone - 80 cm long and weighing 900 kg - was reinstalled 17 m high. The City of Bayonne and DRAC Aquitaine, partners in the enhancement of historic monuments, explained the months that occupied this consolidation and reassembly worksite. Since 2015, three major state-funded operations have been launched to maintain the superb Bayonne edifice: restoration work on the façade and nave, repairs to the south tower bell tower damaged by damp, and cleaning of the paintings in the chapels and ambulatories.