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:The Castle of Gruyères is one of the most famous in Switzerland. It was built between 1270 and 1282, following the typical square plan of the fortifications in Savoy. It was the property of the Counts of Gruyères until the bankruptcy of the Count Michel in 1554. His creditors the cantons of Fribourg and Bern shared his earldom. From 1555 to 1798 the castle became residence to the bailiffs and then to the prefects sent by Fribourg.
In 1849 the castle was sold to the Bovy and Balland families, who used the castle as their summer residency and restored it. The castle was then bought back by the canton of Fribourg in 1938, made into a museum and opened to the public. Since 1993, a foundation ensures the conservation as well as the highlighting of the building and the art collection.
The castle is the home of three capes of the Order of the Golden Fleece. They were part of the war booty captured by the Swiss Confederates (which included troops from Gruyères) at the Battle of Morat against Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy in 1476. As Charles the Bold was celebrating the anniversary of his father's death, one of the capes is a black velvet sacerdotal vestment with Philip the Good's emblem sewn into it.
A collection of landscapes by 19th century artists Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Barthélemy Menn and others are on display in the castle.