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Origin and history

The former Chapel Saint-Sauveur de Casenoves, located in Ille-sur-Têt in the Pyrénées-Orientales, is an 11th century Romanesque building. It belonged to an abandoned hamlet, Casesnoves (from the Latin Casas novas, "new houses"), first mentioned in 1076. Built around 1050, it was enlarged in the 13th–14th centuries with an extended nave, a bell tower, and a side chapel. His Romanesque murals, rediscovered in 1953 by Marcel Durliat, were stolen in 1954, triggering a local scandal and an inscription in the Historical Monuments in 1955.

The village of Casesnoves, perched on a dejection cone at the edge of the Tet, declined in the 15th century. The chapel, decommissioned after 1561, served as an agricultural warehouse until its purchase by the commune in 1990. Its frescoes, dating from the 11th–12th centuries (Christ in majesty, Adoration of the Magi) and the 14th century (lateral chapel), illustrate a Catalan style influenced by monastic miniaturists. A tin calyx and a relic box, discovered around 1840, are now preserved at the Cluny Museum.

A typical Lombard novel, L-abside, features archaic bands and leesenes. The west facade, surmounted by a three-pointed bell tower, dominates the ruins of the hamlet. The paintings, extracted in 1954 by the antiquarian Marcel Simon, reappeared in Switzerland in 1978 before being the subject of prolonged trials. Despite their disappearance, the building, restored in 1990–1992, remains a rare testimony of Catalan Romanesque art.

The site, surrounded by an ancient cemetery, reflects the history of a medieval rural community. The alluvial lands of Tet, suitable for orchards, contrasted with the arid plateau dedicated to breeding. The church, originally parish, lost its status in 1561 to Ille-sur-Têt. Sold as a national good during the Revolution, it embodies the religious and social changes of the Roussillon.

The frescoes of Casenoves, comparable to those of the Catalan monasteries, mixed Romanesque and early Gothic influences. Their flight in 1954, denounced by Marcel Durliat, caused the resignation of the municipal council of Ille-sur-Têt. Despite Simon's condemnations, the fragments, acquired by the Abegg Foundation, were never returned. The case highlighted the legal gaps on the protection of the cultural heritage.

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