Chapelle Sainte-Madeleine

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

History

The history of this troglodytic chapel and the worship associated with it rests above all on a more or less legendary tradition. A woman from Saint-Alban used to take a small path along a cave to make her way to Le Puy. In passing, she saw an image of Saint Mary Magdalene holding a skull. Believing it had been lost by someone, she took it and placed it in a book, but on subsequent journeys she found the same image. She then made a vow to install an oratory to Saint Mary Magdalene in this cave if she won the lawsuit which regularly took her to Le Puy. Another account tells of a governor of Le Puy passing by this path being knocked from his horse and saved from a fall into the precipice by a prayer to Saint Mary Magdalene. In recognition of this miracle, he is said to have had a stone façade built in front of the cave using Langeac stone with windows. Furthermore, a treaty of 1312 would mention the frequenting of this cave since the 13th century, with the burial of the faithful nearby. Notarial archives mention testamentary donations to have masses said or to repair the chapel, between 1682 and 1781. During excavations carried out in 1872 and 1873 on the surrounding burials, coins were found, mostly dated between 1615 and 1631. The worship of this oratory appears to have originated directly from that of the Sainte-Baume, where the remains of the saint are said to have remained buried before being discovered by Charles d'Anjou in 1280, both through oral tradition and through the former existence of a model of the mountain kept in the chapel. It is probable that the origin of the worship is due to a local worshipper returning from a pilgrimage to the Sainte-Baume. A medieval dating could be based on the text of 1312 which would mention the chapel. However, the concrete elements found on site make it possible to confirm the existence of worship in the early 17th century (tombs, coins, legacies). A building must have existed in the 17th century. The neoclassical style of the façade was used especially in the second half of the 18th century, and in the region until the 1840s. The balusters are of a model characteristic of the 17th century, but can also be reused elements. The chapel presents itself as a façade closing a rock cavity. At the centre, a door is inscribed in a rusticated frame with a basket-handle vault. Panels of stripped and nailed pine close this door. Straight mouldings delimit six rectangular panels. Above a fixed traverse, a solid wooden tympanum follows the depressed frame. It is adorned with motifs carved from the mass. Two openings on either side of the door light the nave. Above this level, a triangular pediment, pierced at its centre with an oculus, is hidden by a stained-glass window protected by grillwork. At the top of the pediment is fixed a small cross in red tufa on a small stone base. Traces of paint appear on certain stones. Inside, the nave parallel to the façade and chapel in the depth on the west side.