Oloron Cathedral, now St. Mary's Church, is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral located in the town of Oloron-Sainte-Marie. It is in the Romanesque and Gothic architectural traditions.
Construction was started in the 12th century by Gaston IV, Viscount of Béarn. It was the seat of the Bishopric of Oloron, suppressed by the Concordat of 1801. Restored in 1850, listed in 1939, the cathedral is inscribed in 1998 on the list of humanity UNESCO World Heritage under the Pilgrimage Routes to Santiago de Compostela.
Architecturally, the massive bell tower and the defensive Romanesque portal are testimonies of the original building (twelfth). The carved decoration of the said portal is particularly remarkable: the theme evokes Christ's cross downhill. Always at the architectural level, the Gothic sanctuary with ambulatory is another masterpiece of the site.
Inside, in terms of furniture and decorations, a pulpit of the seventeenth century, the organ and its buffet seventeenth and eighteenth, nineteenth stained glass are observed. As for the treasure, it is housed in two chapels. Are presented including silverware, representations of St. Grat, the protector of St. Mary, a crib eighteenth, a collection of vestments and reliquary busts.
References:Trenčín Castle is relatively large renovated castle, towering on a steep limestone cliff directly above the city of Trenčín. It is a dominant feature not only of Trenčín, but also of the entire Považie region. The castle is a national monument.
History of the castle cliff dates back to the Roman Empire, what is proved by the inscription on the castle cliff proclaiming the victory of Roman legion against Germans in the year 179.
Today’s castle was probably built on the hill-fort. The first proven building on the hill was the Great Moravian rotunda from the 9th century and later there was a stone residential tower, which served to protect the Kingdom of Hungary and the western border. In the late 13th century the castle became a property of Palatine Matúš Csák, who became Mr. of Váh and Tatras.
Matúš Csák of Trenčín built a tower, still known as Matthew’s, which is a dominant determinant of the whole building.