Église Saint-Esprit, Medieval church in Saint-Esprit district, Bayonne, France.
Église Saint-Esprit is a rectangular church in the Saint-Esprit district of Bayonne, facing the train station. Its west facade has a bell wall with two arched openings, each holding a bell, above a central arched doorway flanked by arched windows. Inside, pointed ribbed vaults rest on clustered columns, and the flat chevet retains elements of the earlier Romanesque chapel.
The site was founded in the late 12th century as a hospital priory by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, later taken over by the Order of the Holy Spirit in 1243. This succession shaped the place and gave it its lasting character.
The 1906 stained glass windows come from the Mauméjean workshop. Fragments of the original chapel's windows, found in 1959, show the Tree of Jesse and are kept at the Basque and Bayonne History Museum. The church also holds a 15th-century polychrome relief of the Flight into Egypt.
The church stands on the Place du Réduit, directly facing the SNCF station across the tracks, so travellers arriving by rail reach it on foot in a few minutes. The entrance porch opens onto the street side; the nave and the two square-planned rib vaults are seen from inside, and the 1906 Mauméjean windows are best viewed with daylight behind them.
The church houses relics of Saint Irene that were discovered in Rome in 1825 and brought to this location in 1868. These sacred remains make it a noteworthy destination for those interested in religious history.
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