Initial construction fin XVe - début XVIe siècle (≈ 1625)
Estimated period of the original cross.
vers 1915
Partial damage
Partial damage vers 1915 (≈ 1915)
Destruction of the upper part.
1938
Restoration and reverse winding
Restoration and reverse winding 1938 (≈ 1938)
Intervention by Louis Bernard and artisans.
29 décembre 1949
Registration for Historic Monuments
Registration for Historic Monuments 29 décembre 1949 (≈ 1949)
Official recognition of heritage.
1993
Second restoration
Second restoration 1993 (≈ 1993)
Works by the company Comte.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
16th century cross: inscription by decree of 29 December 1949
Key figures
Louis Bernard - Artisan restaurant
Leads the 1938 restoration.
Pignols et Guilleret - Collaborating Lockers
Help in restoration in 1938.
Entreprise Comte - Restaurant restaurant (1993)
Make the second restoration.
Origin and history
The cross of Chazol, located in Saint-Nizier-de-Fornas in the Loire, dates from the late 15th or early 16th century. It rises on a semicircular platform bordered by a stone wall and a bench of slabs, where its base is recessed. The conical drum, adorned with Renaissance mouldings, supports a historiated cross one meter high. This monument reflects the local religious architecture of the period, mixing symbolic and aesthetic Renaissance function.
Around 1915, the upper part of the cross was damaged. In 1938, Louis Bernard, assisted by locksmiths Pignols and Guilleret, restored and replaced it backwards, the legs of Christ being partially missing. This intervention, although technical, inadvertently alters his iconography. The cross was listed in the Historic Monuments on December 29, 1949, recognizing its heritage value.
A second restoration was carried out in 1993 by Comte (Champdieu), under the supervision of the chief architect of the Bâtiments de France. The cross then returned to the same state, preserving its post-1938 state. This work illustrates the challenges of preserving historical monuments, between fidelity to the original and technical adaptations.
Owned by the commune, the cross of Chazol bears witness to the religious and artisanal practices of the region during the Renaissance. Its recent history, marked by successive restorations, also highlights the evolution of methods of preserving heritage in France in the twentieth century.
