Tarbes Cathedral

Tarbes Cathedral Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède de Tarbes
Tarbes Cathedral
Basic information
Location	Tarbes,  France
Geographic coordinates	Coordinates: 43°14′2″N 0°4′8″E / 43.23389°N 0.06889°E / 43.23389; 0.06889
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Province	Bishop of Tarbes-et-Lourdes
Region	Hautes-Pyrénées
Country	France
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Cathedral
Status	Active
Architectural description
Architectural type	church
Architectural style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	12th century

Tarbes Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède de Tarbes) is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the town of Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. It is a national monument and is the seat of the Bishop of Tarbes et Lourdes.

Tarbes Cathedral was established during the 12th century. There remain two apses of the choir. A first extension was made in the 14th century by the addition of a Gothic nave. Its extension extended until the 18th century with the outer span. The cathedral resembles a fortress as it was built with round pebbles from the river Adour which have also been used for the construction of many houses in Tarbes. It can accommodate up to 600 people.

A large baroque canopy in marble from the 18th century houses as the main altar. "You only see that when you get back into the cathedral," exclaimed Abbé Puyau. Napoleon described Tarbes as "a street without a city, a bridge without a river, an altar without a church, in reference to the immense canopy"

The cathedral also includes a chapel of the Blessed Virgin in which visitors can read the testament of Louis XVI engraved on a black marble wall three meters high. Another peculiarity is that a there is a treasure house and within there are ornaments, chasubles and old bishops' sticks ... This was also where Saint Vincent de Paul was ordained as a deacon in 1598.