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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, also known as the Bonne-Dame Chapel, is a 19th-century Catholic religious building located in Fontainebleau. It commemorates a 17th century legend: in 1661, Sieur Dauberon, captain at the service of the Grand Condé, was saved from a horse accident after having invoked the Virgin Mary. In thanks, he blessed an image of the Virgin in 1662, placed on an oak near the accident site, marking the beginning of a local cult.

A first oratory was built in 1690 by parish priest Maurice Faure, financed by inhabitants and pious officers, but destroyed during the Revolution in 1793. The present chapel was built in 1821 by the Duchess of Angoulême (daughter of Louis XVI) and Louis XVIII, on the plans of architect Hurtault. It was blessed on September 30, 1821 and became an annual procession site every first Sunday in October.

In the 19th century, the chapel benefited from major restorations, notably in 1864 under Napoleon III, which financed repairs and the expansion of the wall. An incident in 1912, when an officer died after a horse fall near the site, reinforced his symbolism. In the 20th century, after the law of 1905, it became state property and suffered degradation until its complete restoration between 2014 and 2017, financed by DRAC, the department, and private donors.

Legend inspired literary works, such as Melanie Waldor's novel L-Écuyer Dauberon (1832). The chapel, inscribed as historical monuments in 1926, remains a testimony of Marian devotion and local history, mixing architecture, art (frescoes of Blondel and Marcel) and collective memory.

Today, the chapel is closed to the public outside the ceremonies. Its location, at the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau, makes it an emblematic site of the religious and historical heritage of Seine-et-Marne.

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