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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Sainte-Croix Chapel, built at the end of the 15th century in Saint-Avold (Moselle), is the oldest religious monument in the city still standing. Built outside the ramparts near the St Mark's Gate, it marked the junction of two historic tracks: the one coming from Germany and the "Schinderkulweg" (now the Poilus Passage). Originally protected by the company of the archebusiers of Saint-Antoine, it served as a major place of worship, especially during the processions of Good Friday, where a path of the cross to five stations (now partially preserved) attracted the faithful. A nearby leprosy, destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, bears witness to its social and spiritual role in the 16th century.

After the decline of his attendance in the 18th century, linked to the suppression of the arquebusiers in 1710, the bishop of Metz Claude Charles de Rouvoroy of Saint-Simon established a hermitage there in 1758 to ensure its maintenance. Sold as a national property in 1794 to the weaver Joubert, who installed looms there, it was returned to the parish in 1802 thanks to the Concordat. The parish priest Jean-Nicolas Houllé (1750–1841) restored worship, but the chapel was looted in the 19th century, losing its baroque altar and statues, sold in 1875. Restored in 1880 by archpriest Georges-Auguste Lemire, she won a sacristy and new stained glass windows, before being neglected after the Second World War.

After becoming a communal property in 1966 for a symbolic franc, the chapel enjoyed a major restoration between 1976 and 1983: slate roofs, redone facades, redevelopment of the courtyard with stairs and lighting. Joined historical monuments in 1980, it preserves remarkable elements such as the statues of the Virgin and Saint John (allocated wrongly to Christophe Melling), a 15th century Virgin of Mercy, and five bas-reliefs of the Way of the Cross carved by Jost Schmitt (1661). Its designated cemetery, Belle-Croix (1783–53), housed the tombs of the Archpriest Houllé and Countess Angélique Françoise Crozat de Vaugrand, before becoming a parking lot.

The interior, rarely open, houses a 19th century neogothic altar surmounted by a Christ on the cross, as well as diamond stained glass windows signed Arthur Schouler (the 1960s). The site, accessible by a steep staircase or a steep path, illustrates the urban transformations of Saint-Avold, from its medieval role as a spiritual stopover to its modern preservation as a local heritage. The classified objects (statues of Calvary, Virgin of Mercy, sculptures of the Way of the Cross) underline its artistic and historical importance in the Great East.

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