Bretagne de Marsan
La Nuit Tombe Sur BretagneAccording to the city’s website, the primitive building probably dates back to the 11th century. It was remodeled and restored in the 19th century, and stained glass windows came to embellish the church at that time.
According to the city’s website, the church may have been built on the site of an even older church. Its patron is Saint Martin, bishop of Tours, who was the first evangelizer of Gaul in the 4th century.
Unfortunately, the church is one of the buildings that are said to be “emaciated by Vatican II” where the tendency was for a poor and damp church. All the interior decoration therefore disappeared in the early sixties.
Bretagne-de-Marsan, which in the 15th century belonged to the lords of Benquet, a neighboring village, does not seem to have suffered the consequences of the successive conflicts which took place in the region. This allows it to preserve its religious heritage as well as its picturesque civil architecture to this day.
Bretagne-de-Marsan has the particularity of having many houses with a typical regional character. Some farms and bourgeois residences even date from the 17th century. One of these dwellings, nicknamed “Magister”, is an old chapel.
As for “Jean Blanc“, it is the residence of the lyrical artist Jacques Pills. His first wife, a singer named Lucienne Boyer, and his second companion, Edith Piaf, made many stays in this place.
