The temples in Orthez from the Reformation to the Revocation
At the time of the Reformation the Protestants used Catholic Churches for worship, such as Saint-Pierre Church, Jacobins and Capucins Church. In 1620 after the annexation of the Béarn region, Louis XIII gave the churches back to the Catholics.
A temple built outside the town walls in 1624 was pulled down upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
The turbulent history of the new temple
After the Edict of Tolerance of 1787, the Protestants had a large room built -28 m long, 10 m wide and 9 m high- to be used as a temple on the rue des Innocents and was inaugurated in 1790.
But political unrest led to closing the temple between 1793 and 1800. The building was turned into a stable for the horses of the hussards garrisoned in the city.
When it was reopened, it was restored, and a great stone portal was added. From 1811 to 1815 it was turned into stables again. In 1815 the temple was restored again and its façade decorated with a neoclassical peristyle with three arcades to which Louis XVIII offered the iron gate with his monogramme. Today it still is the city’s Reformed temple.
