A little history of Sainte-Marie cathedral in Bayonne

We are now in the heart of Bayonne, where the Gothic cathedral stands. The former church was founded in 1140 under the bishopric of Raymond de Martres, with a Latin cross plan.

The choir and the apse date back to the 12th century. After the former church's destruction in a fire, they raised the current one in 1213 on a hill where in the past was a Roman oppidum ("castle").

The cloister, put up between 1213 and 1240, used to be a cemetery. It's the hugest one in France!

The Dominican monk Guillaume Bodin restored it in 1312. In 1335, the high nave was built. The bell-tower was raised between 1500 and 1605.