ST. MARY'S CHURCH

The church of Sainte-Marie dominates the town with its stature. Mirande became a bishopric in 1410 and began building a cathedral. But it lost its title in 1413. Sainte-Marie was therefore consecrated as a simple parish church. The church's distinctive feature is its astonishing bell tower. The buttresses supporting the turret, probably designed for military purposes, span the street. The church's main portal is hidden beneath the stone jamb, behind a beautiful wrought-iron gate. Christ, surrounded by his apostles, surmounts the tympanum. The Virgin Mary is sculpted into the pilaster between the two entrance doors. She is flanked by Ecclesia and Synagoga, a common allegory in medieval Christian art. Ecclesia symbolizes Christianity and can be recognized by its crown, while Synagoga, blindfolded, represents the blindness of the Jewish people, who failed to recognize Jesus' messianic character. Access to the church is through a side door, surmounted by a statue of St. John the Baptist. The transeptless nave, typical of southern architecture, is flanked by chapels. Highlights include the thirty-six-pipe Magen organ and the black and yellow marble altar-tomb, topped by a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin by Antoine Coypel. The two stained-glass windows depicting the Virgin and Child and the Archangel Saint-Michel slaying the dragon are attributed to Arnaud de Moles, who designed the stained-glass windows at Auch Cathedral.