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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Notre-Dame d'Aubune chapel, located in Beaumes-de-Venise in the Vaucluse, is a 11th and 13th century Romanesque building, classified as a historical monument since 1910. It illustrates Provencal Romanesque art inspired by antiquity, with an 11th century bedside and a 13th century bell tower, adorned with pilasters and capitals with acanthe leaves. Its architecture, marked by semicircular apses and an oculus, makes it a rare example of this regional style.

According to legend, Charlemagne or Charles Martel founded the chapel after a victory against the Moors, while a suspended stone, the Devil's Stone, would testify to a miraculous intervention of the Virgin. A popular riddle also evokes "16 bays and fifteen hundred bells", interpreted by a set of Provençal words on numbers and meadows. These stories reflect the cultural and symbolic anchor of the place in the local imagination.

The site, Christianized from the 5th century, delivered a Paleo-Christian altar (IVth-Vth century) and an epitaph of 485, now preserved at the Lapidary Museum of Carpentras. The chapel was restored in the 17th century after the Wars of Religion, with the addition of a hermitage. A major restoration campaign in 2007 allowed to preserve its novel elements, including the bolt holes (trace scaffolding) and a tasker brand signed VGo (XII century), a rare example of stone signature in Provence.

The bell tower, described by Jean-Maurice Rouquette as a "exceptional plastic value", dominates the plain and is directly inspired by ancient models. Its decoration – canned and capital columns – underscores the influence of the rediscovery of antiquity in the Middle Ages. The bedside, in stone and stone, has a triple apse characteristic of the first Romanesque art, while the eastern facade is pierced by an oculus aligned with the central apse.

Two hiking paths lead to the chapel, accessible from the village or by footpaths descending from the Dentelles de Montmirail. The site, a communal property, offers free guided tours all year round, highlighting its history, museum, garden and source. Ranked among the most beautiful examples of Provencal Romanesque art, it is next to other major buildings such as the Cathedral of Avignon or the Priory of the Val des Nymphes.

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