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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame d'Andelot Chapel, located in Vensat in Puy-de-Dôme, is a 12th century Romanesque church. It is located at La Chapelle, northwest of the village, and is mentioned for the first time in a 1220 burrow. Its architecture consists of a nave of three spans with sideways and a thawed apse with three vaulted chapels in cul-de-four, characteristic of auvergnat Romanesque art.

In the 6th century, Grégoire de Tours already evokes a neighboring estate with an oratory, but the present chapel is attested only from the 13th century under the name of the priory of Dandalau. It then depends on the abbey of La Chaise-Dieu and serves as agricultural priory-curtain in the 15th century. However, no source specifies the conditions of its foundation.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the bell tower was shot down in 1793, and the priory, bought by Joseph Ribauld de La Chapelle in the 18th century, was abandoned. Sold as a barn in 1844, the chapel was restored in 1847 by a nearby chestnut, which restored it to worship. Classified as a historic monument in 1925, it has been restored by Armand Guéritte (1926–27 and 1933), without major works since then.

Its history reflects religious and political upheavals, from its medieval role to its modern preservation. The murals of the choir, added in the 19th century, and the tombstone of the benefactors (Jean-Baptiste de La Chapelle and Anne Souhaillet) testify to its evolution. Today, it remains an emblematic Romanesque vestige of the bourbonese Limagne.

State protection in 1925 avoided its disappearance, despite the conflicts between heirs in the 20th century. Its architecture, with its archatures and columns, as well as its apse to three chapels, makes it a rare example of rural prioral church. The archaeological and historical sources (Grégoire de Tours, archives of La Chaise-Dieu) underline its heritage importance.

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