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Origin and history

The Chapel of the Penitents of Pradelles, located in the Haute-Loire department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, is a religious building built at the end of the seventeenth century, after the fire of 1680 which destroyed the original. Reconstructed in 1696 by the community of priests, it measured forty-seven toises and served as a meeting place in 1790 for censors electing the first revolutionary municipality of Pradelles. Sold as a national property in 1796, it was converted into a barn and partially demolished, retaining only its 17th century western facade, which was classified as a historical monument in 1998.

The Fraternity of the Penitents of Pradelles, affiliated with the penitential movement born in Italy in the 13th century and developed in France after 1550, was composed exclusively of white penitents in the Velay. Unlike other local brotherhoods, Pradelles had an independent chapel from the beginning, a sign of its importance. Its monumental portal, adorned with symbols such as the cross of Malta and the inscription Societas Gonfalonis, as well as with leafy capitals, bears witness to its architectural and spiritual heritage.

Inside the chapel, today in poor condition, has lost all ancient decor. Only the west facade remains, with its stone frame evoking an arc of triumph, its niches and its stone dated 1696. This vestige recalls its dual role: a place of devotion for the penitents of the Blessed Sacrament, then a symbol of revolutionary upheavals in the Haute-Loire. Its ranking in 1998 protects this heritage linked to local religious and political history.

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