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Origin and history

The Gothic chapel of Azerables, located in the commune of the same name in New Aquitaine, is the only remaining vestige of the castle of Montjouan. Built in the second half of the 15th century, it occupied the northeast corner of the castle and participated in its defense thanks to a tower joined together and a foothill surmounted by a steeple. The building, of quadrilateral plan, consists of two trapezoidal spans vaulted with warheads, with a limestone door adorned with a carved tympanum representing a shield and grimacing heads.

The tympanum of the door is decorated with two mutilated lion heads holding a leaf, carved in limestone. The south wall retains traces of a chimney, probably linked to a kitchen, and remains of a tower are visible against the west wall. The chapel was integrated into a building body independent of the main house, on the edge of the castle enclosure. The seigneury of Montjehan, on which this site depended, was mentioned for the first time in 1497, under the dependence of the Viscount of Bridiers.

A 1623 confession describes the castle with its fortifications, outbuildings and a stair tower, but the mansion was already destroyed before 1825, as evidenced by its absence on the cadastre of that date. The chapel, for its part, is always mentioned on this cadastre and has survived until today. It was listed as a Historical Monument by order of 30 October 1963, thus protecting this rare example of Gothic military and religious architecture.

The western facade was taken over and consolidated in the modern era by two foothills, while the site of the castle, now extinct, only suggests an irregular square of about 25 meters side, marked by a few raised land. The chapel thus illustrates the evolution of a seigneurial site, where religious and defensive functions were closely linked.

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