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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The chapel-fontaine Sainte-Radegonde, called the Grand Font, is a 15th century religious and public building located in La Châtre, in the department of Indre. This monument, still well preserved, illustrates the architecture of medieval fountains associated with chapels, a rare example in France. It was attended by pregnant women, who came to pray there for a proper course of pregnancy, testifying to its role both spiritual and social in the local community.

The chapel consists of a hexagonal base once surmounted by a calvary, surrounded by three niches, two of which form chapels and the third gives access to the source. Architectural details include cauliflowers and ground roses, typical of late Gothic style. The building was restored in 1853, then listed as a historic monument on July 16, 1925, recognizing its outstanding heritage value.

Saint Radegonde de Poitiers (519–587), a thuringian princess who became Queen of the Franks by her marriage to Clotaire I, is the religious figure associated with this chapel. Its statue adorns one of the niches, recalling its local cult linked to the protection of women and maternity. The chapel is part of the landscape of the South Boischaut, a natural region of southern Indre, and remains a unique testimony to the devout and water practices of the Middle Ages.

Located at the foot of the ancient dungeon of La Châtre, the Grand Font also reflects the importance of water points in medieval cities, often associated with places of worship to sacralize their use. Its state of conservation and its architectural characteristics make it a monument studied to understand the interactions between religion, public hygiene and daily life in the 15th century.

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