San Juan de Luz is the only large coastal port located in the Nivelle estuary. Wrapped in its magnificent bay, San Juan de Luz has spent a long time at the mercy of the moods of the Atlantic Ocean. In 1680 a tidal wave almost completely destroyed this town.
The Church of San Juan Bautista
The Church of San Juan Bautista was built in several phases, between the 15th and 17th centuries, on the site of an older church that suffered a fire in 1419. Its thick, blind stone walls have the austerity of a fort. It has a short, compact bell tower, that is square-shaped lower down, and polygonal higher up. Although the outward appearance is very sober, except for the neo-gothic façade added in 1865, the interior is sumptuous. It consists of a wide nave with three floors of galleries, a monumental baroque altarpiece made of gilded wood with Solomonic columns that flank some twenty statues arranged over four levels, an elevated altar, a magnificent organ façade, etc.
This church was the setting for the wedding ceremony of Luis XIV with the Princess María Teresa de Austria.
