Taxi Bordeaux → Aire-sur-l'Adour

Aire-sur-l'Adour is a small town of 6,500 inhabitants, sub-prefecture of the Landes, located in the heart of Gascony at the confluence of the Adour and the Brousseau. An episcopal city since the 5th century, it possesses remarkable religious heritage for its size. The Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste du Mas d'Aire (11th-12th centuries), built on the ruins of a Roman temple, is a massive Romanesque edifice whose crypt houses the sarcophagus of Saint Quitterie, patron saint of Gascony. According to tradition, Quitterie, a Visigothic princess converted to Christianity, was beheaded in the 5th century for refusing an arranged marriage; after her decapitation, she is said to have picked up her head and walked to the place where she wished to be buried (a classic hagiographic account of cephalophory). The 4th-century white marble sarcophagus is a masterpiece of early Christian sculpture, listed as a historic monument. The church is a stop on the Way of St James (Le Puy route, UNESCO World Heritage). Aire-sur-l'Adour is also a capital of the course landaise, a bloodless bull-running tradition where écarteurs face Landes cows in arenas. The Aire arenas, built in 1932, host formal courses from June to October. The town is at the heart of Landes foie gras country: the foie gras markets (November to March, Tuesday morning) are among the most renowned in the South-West. The Tursan vineyard (AOC since 2011), a few kilometres to the south, produces original white wines from the baroque grape variety, unique in the world.