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Origin and history

The chapel of the cemetery of Saint-Jean-du-Falga, an ancient parish church of probably Romanesque origin (XIIe or XIIIe century), is characterized by a quasi integral construction of river pebbles assembled in opus spicatum, reinforced by brick links at angles. Its architecture includes a single carpented nave, a tripartite bedside, and a cul-de-four apse. Two broken arch doors (west and north) and narrow cut stone bays illuminate the building. The present portal dates from the second campaign of construction, in the eighteenth century, when the interior was adorned with monumental paintings (cul-de-four, vault of the choir, triumphal arch) depicting vegetal caissons, flowers and masks.

Damaged during the Wars of Religion, the chapel was restored at the end of the seventeenth century, as evidenced by the paintings signed "by Jean Soun painter de Verdun en Foix" dated 1657 or 1697. A new campaign in 1776 saw the elevation of the gable wall, the addition of a bell, and the piercing of the south gate. Originally called Saint-Jean-del-Vernet and then Saint-Sernin-del-Vernet in the 14th century, it depended on the territory of Pamiers before the creation of the commune at the Revolution. Its isolation, on the edge of Ariège and near a historic irrigation canal, reflects its rural anchor.

Disused in 1890 after the construction of a new parish church in the village, the chapel was closed in 1926. His paintings were classified as Historic Monument in 1984, followed by the building's inscription in 1986. Today, it is a communal property and retains traces of its medieval past (stone foothills, semi-circular apse) and its modern transformations, while at the same time testifying to the links between the villages bordering Ariège, such as Benagues, whose church was called the "annex" of Saint-Jean-du-Falga.

The total absence of stone decoration, unlike the chapel of the Mas-Vieux-Saint-Antonin in Pamiers, underscores the simplicity of its local Romanesque architecture. Materials (galets, bricks) and techniques (opus spicatum) reflect available resources and regional know-how, while its location near a "Champs de l'Église" and a medieval canal recalls its central role in past agricultural and religious life.

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