St. Andrew's Church is a neo-Gothic parish church in central Bayonne. The church was designed by architects Hippolyte Durand and Hippolyte Guichenné and built in the neo-Gothic style between 1856 and 1869, under Napoléon III's reign. It was built on the site of a former Jansenist high school. Its construction was mainly funded by a bequest from banker Jacques Taurin de Lormand, who died in 1847. The town council allocated additional money for ending the works and purchasing furniture. The church was consecrated on March 7, 1862. The Capuchins' Church neighboring St Andrew's was demolished.
On December 13, 1895, the vault partly collapsed on the organ lofts because the ground was swampy. The 74-meter-high spires, which were too heavy, were demolished in 1901 and replaced by the two current belfry towers in 1903.
In the shape of a Latin cross, the church's design was inspired from the 13th-century Gothic churches with two front towers and an imposing rosette over the doors. It has three ribbed naves.
The inside of the church features a painting by Léon Bonnat (1833-1922) of Bayonne, which represents the Assumption of Mary. Another painting by Joseph Pascau (1875-1944) of Bayonne shows the Holy Family. The pipe organ was donated by Napoléon III in 1862 and inaugurated on April 9, 1836.
References:The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.