Notre Dame's chapel

It is a building with three naves. The façade in grey marble is classic. Five statues in white marble (Our Lady and the Four Evangelists) impart life and movement. The belfry surmounting it with its triple collar of slates, as well as the roof, originates from Bearn.
Inside, the first thing which attracts one’s attention is the magnificent retable of the high altar, with its columns where chubby-cheeked cherubs are playing among the pampers, and its four massive statues, which respect the kinship of Our Lady: to the left St Anne and St Joachim, to the right St Elizabeth and St Zachary. The whole bears the marks of the Grand Siecle.
In the centre of the retable one notices the Virgin by Alexandre Renoir (1845).  With all her maternity she leans towards us presenting her child, seated on her knees. As for Jesus, he is showing us the saving branch carved on the plinth.
In the central nave the scenery with angels dominating and lending light to the vast square pillars in black marble, the frames of eight huge paintings, following the childhood of Christ right up to his Baptism, the gallery and the buffet decorated with pleasant paintings, are of the same style as the retable. Their gold improves what might otherwise be a very sombre appearance. The sky blue and stars of the wooden ceiling contribute to this effect.
Other details which could retain the visitor’s attention:
On the south side, against the hill, are two altars with retable, older (about 1630) with rather childish carvings: one in the abside showing the apparition to the shepherds of the miraculous statue (la Pastoure altar); the other, in the opposite corner the Virgin Mary can be seen surrounded by her family.
To the right, on entering, is a remarkable 18th century wooden statue of Christ.  It is the only complete item from the former Calvary which escaped the fury of the Revolutionaries in 1793.
Finally, don’t forget the two statues of Our Lady which preceded Renoir’s statue and which are above the High altar. The older of the two, a polychrome statue dating from the 13th century, shows the Virgin breast-feeding Jesus. Tradition has it that it was brought to Betharram in 1616 by the Archbishop of Auch, Leonard de Trapes; it was afterwards replaced by an upright statue of the Virgin, in gilt wood, at the time of the installation of the new retable in the chancel.
Beneath the organ loft, Christ’s genealogy is displayed by a series of portraits painted in the 17th century. On the Gave side, the story of Betharram is told in the stained glass windows which throw out a gentle light. Here, everything invites the visitor to stop, reflect on the “Gospel of Mary” and  collect his thoughts.