A masterpiece of Southern Gothic architecture, Saint-Alain Cathedral was built on the site of an earlier Romanesque priory dedicated to Saint-Alain and founded in 1098 by the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-Pons de Thomières.
A remarkable marble altarpiece remains from this first building.
The brick construction of the cathedral took place during the second half of the 13th century.
Becoming a cathedral after the town of Lavaur was granted bishopric status in 1318, the building subsequently underwent a series of embellishments: an apse on the east side, north and south chapels, a bell tower, and a monumental portal on the west side.
In 1876, the cathedral received a large Cavaillé-Coll organ in a magnificent polychrome carved wooden organ case, a masterpiece of Renaissance art in the South of France. Mythological evocations alternate with griffins or intertwined plants and religious symbols.
The cathedral houses two remarkable chapels, the Chapel of Our Lady and a second chapel containing the Gothic portal.
Another notable feature of the cathedral is the bell tower. In 1484, Bishop Jean Vigier decided to give Saint-Alain a bell tower worthy of its episcopal rank.
To this end, he had a 42-meter tower erected.
This bell tower primarily houses a flamboyant portal, framed by a pointed arch decorated with seven twisted voussoirs.
Finally, as a final curiosity, the cathedral preserves the only surviving example of Jacquemart in the southwest.
Saint-Alain Cathedral
Saint-Alain Square
81500 Lavaur
