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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel of the Annonciade, also known as the Chapel of the White Penitents, is a baroque building built in the second half of the seventeenth century (1664-1671) in Martigues, in the district of Jonquières. It was built at the initiative of the White Penitent Brotherhood, a charitable community dedicated to helping the poor, helping each other and praying collectively. Its sober architecture, rectangular, contrasts with the richness of its interior decor, dominated by a monumental table of 8 meters high and wide, in gold and polychrome wood.

The interior walls of the chapel are entirely covered with trompe l'oeil frescoes, some of which illustrate scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. The ceiling, painted in the Venetian way, and the altar, also in trompe l'oeil, complete this exceptional artistic ensemble, made between 1677 and 1734. This luxurious decor reflects the spiritual and social importance of the brotherhood in the region, as well as the influence of Italian artistic currents in Provence at that time.

Ranked a historic monument by decree of 21 March 1910, the chapel benefited from a major restoration campaign between 1993 and 2015, rewarded with the Heritage Ruban Prize in 2016. Today, it opens to the public on specific occasions, such as the first Sundays of the month (March to October) or at concerts, thus perpetuating its cultural and religious role in the Martegale city.

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