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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Lupien Chapel is a Roman Catholic building dedicated to Saint Lupien, one of the early Christians of Ratiatum (former name of Reze), baptized after 345 by Hilaire de Poitiers. His relics, once preserved in the chapel, were taken to Auvergne during the Norman invasions. This local saint is not to be confused with Saint Louvent, a 6th century martyr in Gevaudan.

The site of Saint-Lupien, on the edge of the old arm of the Loire called the Seil, houses Gallo-Roman remains and a priory of the 15th century. This priory, built on a Merovingian sanctuary, belonged to the Abbey of the Madeleine of Geneston until 1790. The present chapel, rebuilt after Viking destruction, was a place of pilgrimage until the 19th century, before being transformed into a farm and then bought by the city in 1983.

Ranked a historical monument in 1986 with the nearby Gallo-Roman wall, the chapel illustrates the superposition of the epochs: ancient buildings, Merovingian sanctuary, medieval priory and modern reuse. His ban on mass in 1777, due to his disrepair, marked the decline of his religious use before his contemporary preservation.

The surrounding archaeological site reveals the importance of Ratiatum, an ancient city whose remains remain like the Gallo-Roman wall. The chapel, a communal property, today bears witness to this stratified heritage, from Gaulish to modern times.

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