TreeAlive
‹ Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques, France

Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Chapelle Saint-Guillaume

Sainte-Gemme, Deux-Sèvres, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, classified (classé)
Protection
classé MH
Extent of protection
Chapelle Saint-Guillaume (cad. B 291) : classement par arrêté du 10 avril 1990
Protection dates
1990/04/10 : classé MH
Type
chapelle
Main period of construction
12e siècle, 14e siècle, 1er quart 15e siècle
Ownership
propriété privée
Commune
Sainte-Gemme
Département
Deux-Sèvres
Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Country
France
Coordinates
46.89224, -0.27997
Mérimée reference
PA00101334

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1579 map "(28) Andegavensium." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Get directions ↗

This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

Selon la légende, un chevalier revenant de terre sainte et tombant épuisé à cet endroit, fut soigné par un ermite nommé Guillaume. A sa guérison, il fit voeu d'ériger une chapelle en ce lieu. Petit édifice à nef unique, choeur et abside semi-circulaire. La nef ruinée ne conserve plus que ses murs latéraux et sa façade occidentale qui s'ouvre par un portail sculpté du 12e siècle. Le choeur, refermé par un mur moderne, conserve des vestiges de peintures murales : Christ en majesté entouré d'animaux symboliques ; Vierge allaitant sur un fond de semis de rosettes.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

According to legend, a knight returning from the Holy Land and falling exhausted at this place was cared for by a hermit named Guillaume. Upon his recovery, he made a vow to erect a chapel at this location. Small building with a single nave, choir and semi-circular apse. The ruined nave retains only its lateral walls and its western façade which opens by a sculptured portal of the 12th century. The choir, closed by a modern wall, retains vestiges of mural paintings: Christ in majesty surrounded by symbolic animals; Virgin nursing on a background of a sowing of rosettes.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
See your own family's places on a living map