Saint-Vincent (Lucq) - All PYRENEES

The Abbey of Lucq-de-Béarn in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Nouvelle Aquitaine) was a Benedictine abbey founded by William Sancho, Duke of Gascony, around 970. It was one of the three most important abbeys in Béarn (France).

Along with the abbeys of Larreule and Sauvelade, the monastery of Lucq was one of the most important abbeys in Béarn.

History

The monastery was founded around 970 in a place called “Villam de Luco.” According to tradition, while Childebert I was returning from the Siege of Zaragoza in 542, one of his lieutenants founded an oratory dedicated to Saint Vincent in Lucq. The monastery was subsequently dedicated to Saint Vincent.

In 1569, following the invasion of her Béarn domains by a Catholic army sent by King Charles IX, the Queen of Navarre sent a Protestant army led by Gabriel I of Montgomery to reconquer Béarn. Lucq Abbey was sacked in August 1569. The church was severely damaged, while the cloister was destroyed and the abbey house was in ruins.

Following the destruction caused by the Wars of Religion, the nave and aisles were rebuilt in the 17th century. In 1757, the Andalusian painter Jeronimo Ribero-Zapata, who had settled in Oloron, painted the ceilings of the third bay of the north aisle. The church was restored between 1888 and 1897, when the sacristy was added and the collapsed apse was rebuilt identically. The church was listed as a historic monument in 1984.