First mention of a building IXe siècle (≈ 950)
Annales quoting a place named Illins
XIe siècle
Construction of the nave
Construction of the nave XIe siècle (≈ 1150)
Oldest part preserved
2e moitié XIIIe siècle
Enlargement and bell tower
Enlargement and bell tower 2e moitié XIIIe siècle (≈ 1350)
Double bow and painted decor
2002
Restoration decision
Restoration decision 2002 (≈ 2002)
Municipal council vote
2004
Discovery of frescoes
Discovery of frescoes 2004 (≈ 2004)
Polls in the choir
31 août 2005
Registration MH
Registration MH 31 août 2005 (≈ 2005)
Protected chapel and cemetery
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The chapel with its cemetery and the surrounding plot (cad. A 219): registration by order of 31 August 2005
Key figures
Viennois - Donor
Foundation nine annual Masses (1538)
Origin and history
The chapel Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Illins, located in the hamlet of Illins in Luzinay (Isère), dates mainly from the 11th and 13th centuries, although an annals of the 9th century already mention a building bearing this name. It was the former parish church of Saint John the Baptist, never erected in a commune, and retains a nave of the eleventh century, while the double arch supporting the bell tower dates from the thirteenth century. Later transformations in the 18th and 19th centuries added sacristy, and roofs were taken over in the 20th century. The chapel, surrounded by a girded cemetery, houses 13th-century murals, including a historical decoration discovered in 2004 in the choir.
The chapel was listed as an inventory of historical monuments in 2005, including its cemetery and surrounding parcel. Owned by the municipality of Luzinay, its restoration was decided in 2002 by the municipal council. Among its remarkable elements, a tombstone bears the epitaph of Vienna, died in 1538, having founded nine annual Masses. The bell tower, comb-type with rectangular gable, leans on two buttresses, while the vault of the choir, on a dogive cross, falls on caps.
The building illustrates a construction in two phases: the nave, the oldest (XI-XIIth centuries), and the bedside, redesigned in the 13th century. The north dropper wall may date back to the 11th and 11th centuries, while the initial bedside, replaced in the same century, bears witness to a medieval architectural evolution. The chapel, opened during the European Heritage Days, is located in the natural region of Viennese Balmes, between Luzinay and Villette-de-Vienne.
Available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) highlight its historical role as a place of Catholic worship and local necropolis. The 2004 polls revealed frescoes of the 13th century, reinforcing its heritage interest. Its inscription in 2005 aims to preserve this testimony of medieval religious art in Dauphin, linked to the history of the Missing parish of Illins.
