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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Jean-Baptiste de la Croix-au-Bost, located in the commune of Saint-Domet (Creuse, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), was built in the 13th century by the Order of Hospitallers of Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem. Dedicated to the decollation of Saint John the Baptist, it was initially used as an autonomous commandery, although attached to the parish of Saint-Domet for the great feasts. The archives mention a Templar presence as early as 1180, confirmed by economic acts of neighboring abbeys (Bonlieu) in 1204 and 1246. At the end of the 13th century, the Hospitallers operated almost as an independent parish, despite the bishop's opposition.

The building once housed a round screw tower housing the Hospitallers, destroyed during the French Revolution. The chapel was thoroughly renovated in the 18th century, including the addition of woodwork around the altar. His 13th-century murals, in two distinct campaigns, represent the Elders of Revelation, a cycle of Genesis, and apostles identifiable by their attributes or inscriptions. A vegetal and geometric frieze separates the scenes from the walls and the vault, where there are also royal apostles playing musical instruments.

The chapel lost its parish status between 1841 and 1843, when the parish was reunited with that of Saint-Domet. Ranked a historic monument in 1989, it preserves a 14th century Limousin portal and remains of its hospital function, such as buildings burned in 1911. Eight objects of his furniture are listed in the Palissy base, testifying to his rich religious and artistic heritage.

The archaeological and historical sources underline its role in the Limousin control system, linked to the Order of Malta after the dissolution of the Templars. The paintings, studied by experts such as Claude Andrault-Schmitt, reveal a rare iconography mixing apostolic symbols and eschatological judgments, typical of late Romanesque art in New Aquitaine.

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