The building of Lescar Cathedral was begun in 1120 by Bishop Guy de Lons, and was sacked by the Protestants during the reign of Jeanne III of Navarre. It was restored in the 17th and 18th centuries. The apse, housing a pavement mosaic from the 12th century with hunting scenes, is in Romanesque style. In the interior, columns have capitals depicting histories of the life of Daniel, of the birth of Christ and the Sacrifice of Isaac.
From the end of the 15th century the cathedral was used as the burial place of the royal family of Navarre. Francis Phoebus was buried here in 1483, followed by Catherine of Navarre, her consort Jean d'Albret and several of their children, among them Henry II of Navarreand his wife Marguerite of Angoulême, grandparents of King Henry IV of France.
Of the funerary monuments ordered by Henry II, subjected to iconoclastic damage by Protestants and to the collapse of the sanctuary vault in 1599, nothing remains. Archaeological excavations in 1928-1929 were successful however in rediscovering the royal crypt and the remains of its occupants.
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.