La Grande Maison

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

A Cluniac priory was established at Contamine-sur-Arve from the 11th century, the most striking testimony to which is constituted by the church of Sainte-Foy, built in the 13th century. The priory is partly destroyed by the Bernese at the end of the 16th century, and the Benedictines of the Cluniac order are finally replaced by the Barnabites by the bull of Pope Urban VIII of 22 July 1624. The new community has new buildings constructed: half regular convent, half farm, they enable the feeding of the Chappuis college of Annecy of which they have the management and the college of Thonon. These buildings also include a chapel dedicated to the Virgin. The Barnabites are expelled in 1795 and the buildings are sold as national property. In the 19th century, the former convent, commonly called the "Grande maison" becomes a textile and paint factory, then is taken over by the Redemptorists who install a small college there. After their expulsion, an agricultural school is installed there in 1929. The wall paintings of the chapel are classified historic monument in 1923, then declassified for practical reasons in 1944. An agricultural high school is installed there in 1960, but the building is definitely abandoned in 1979. In 2001, following a danger notice, works of reinforcement are undertaken. In 2003, the gabled body on the north side is destroyed to widen the road, as well as the entrance porch.

Description

The building is composed of two bodies of adjoining rectangular buildings; the smaller and less tall houses the chapel; the larger, of greater height also, has on its façade a tower housing a spiral staircase. The roofs are steeply pitched and are in tiles, the walls are rendered. The interiors, structured by large rooms distributed by corridors, are heavily degraded and have been remodelled in the 19th and 20th centuries. The chapel is the major heritage element of this building: of square plan 8 m to a side, the room is covered with four groin vaults resting on a central column. A vast great wall decoration is read and divined today by still very distinct vestiges. One sees religious themes treated through the subjects of the Adoration of the Magi, the Circumcision of Christ, the Marriage of the Virgin Mary, the Presentation at the Temple, the Massacre of the Innocents and finally scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist. A white coating covers the walls, dating no doubt from the 1920s when the chapel is used for fruit storage. Probes carried out by restorers Guilloud and Lahrmann in 1999 allow these decorations to be dated to the end of the 17th century or the beginning of the 18th century of great pictorial quality. A garden to the rear of the building still preserves traces of a staircase and an ornamental basin.