Église Saint-Joseph de Pau, Religious monument in Pau, France.
Église Saint-Joseph de Pau is a church in Pau featuring a prominent central dome with numerous windows that illuminate the interior space. The building includes a concrete bell tower and houses five colored marble altars that anchor the main hall.
Built from August 1934 to October 1935 by public subscription, the church replaced a rectangular temporary chapel erected between 1913 and 1915 in what was then a new outlying district of Pau. Its architect, Jacques Laffillée, son-in-law of Marshal Joffre, modelled it on Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix in Ribérac. Bishop Houbaut inaugurated it on 27 October 1935, and it was listed as a monument historique on 14 December 2000.
The church is dedicated to Saint Joseph and belongs to the Diocese of Bayonne, depending on the Christ-Sauveur parish. Its inauguration took place on 27 October 1935, presided over by Bishop Houbaut. The left transept arm ends in the Chapel of the Virgin, the right in the Chapel of Saint Joseph, each holding sculptures by Béarnais artists.
The church belongs to the parish of Christ-Sauveur in the diocese of Bayonne. Mass is held on Sundays at 11 a.m. and on Saturdays at 6:30 p.m., so visits are best planned outside those times. The tomb of Abbé Surce, the church's founder, stands outside near the chevet, at the rear of the building.
The mosaic of the Return from Egypt fills the back wall of the apse behind the altar, made by the Mauméjean brothers. The church's founder, abbé Surce, is buried outside near the chevet, a grave visitors pass without noticing.
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