We make a must stop when visiting our sentimental Lavaur, and love it. The Church of Saint François is old and beautifully done right in city center, in fact you entered from the sidewalk into the church! It is at Grande Rue which is the main merchant street in town!
I wrote briefly on it long ago so let me bring you up to date, and my blog! Here is my take on the St François Church of Lavaur. Also known as the Cordeliers (12C-15C) with its large Puget organ 1866. Former convent of the Cordeliers (Franciscans), founded by Sicard, baron of Ambres. After the abolition of the convent, the church became parish from 1802 to 1963.
The Saint-François Church inspires respect. Majestic, it consists mainly of bricks and remains today the largest Franciscan church in the Southwest of France!. The current church brings together a polygonal choir from the 13C, an apse from the 14C, a nave from the 15C and a Stations of the Cross designed around 1880. Its interior decor from the 19C was mainly created by artists and craftsmen from Toulouse: paintings of vaults , stained glass windows and terracotta tiles , and large organ c 1866
The Church of Saint François is located in Lavaur, dept 81 of the Tarn in the region of Occitanie. The church is oriented north-south. The choir of the Saint-François Church and two spans of the nave dates from the 13C, the apse from the 14C, the nave from the 15C. The church was consecrated in 1350, then again in 1512 The church was unoccupied during the French revolution. It served as a fodder store between 1790 and 1800.
The Church of Saint François was returned to worship in 1801. A gallery was built in 1848 above the entrance. The interior decor of the church dates from the 19C. The church was built in bricks of a single nave, adopting a fairly usual plan in the Gothic churches of the Languedoc.
In the four spans to the south, the side chapels are integrated between the buttresses of the nave. In the 15C, the brotherhoods multiply in the Saint-François Church which have their chapels. The first chapel, to the right of the entrance, is that of the Saint-Côme-Saint-Damien brotherhood founded in 1501. The fourth chapel, on the same side, has Saint Eutrope whose cult was introduced in 1450. The organ was built by Toulouse organ builder Théodore Puget, between 1863 and the end of 1865. It was inaugurated in January 1866.
The webpages are limited on this Church for unknown reasons to me making it even more interesting to see it Below is the Catholic parish of Albi of which the town of Lavaur depend on for religious reasons.
Catholic Diocese of Albi on the Church St Francois of Lavaur
You will enjoy the monuments of Lavaur, small town but packed with goodies see my next posts on it. And do walk, we did the whole town lol! And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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