ST. LAWRENCE CHURCH

Dedicated to the martyred deacon Saint Laurent, the church houses a votive chapel to the Virgin named "Notre-Dame de Fleurance". It is the only building dating back to the bastide's foundation in the late ^13th century. Southern Gothic in style, its dimensions are impressive: 70 m long and 37 m wide. Three naves, no transept, chapels set between buttresses, murality, no sculpted ornamentation...

It was built over a long period, as evidenced by the changes in materials under the roof. The bell tower features a typical Toulouse Gothic structure: a square base topped by a 3-storey octagonal lantern and a flat-tiled spire. The original arched portal is framed by niches with chiselled arches. Inside, the aisles are lined with eight chapels converging on the ^14th-century polygonal choir. The Saint-Jude chapel is also remarkable.

The centerpiece are the three Renaissance stained-glass windows by the famous master glass artist Arnaud de Moles (circa 1500), who also designed the stained-glass windows of Auch Cathedral. The central part depicts the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary; on the left, various saints, including the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (on his grill); on the right, the Tree of Jesse. Note the presence of one of the finest Romantic organs in the region. Inaugurated in 1865, and built by Jules Magen, it features 1,816 pipes, 34 stops distributed over 3 manual keyboards and a pedalboard.