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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel Notre-Dame de La Bastide-des-Jourdans, Romanesque architecture, is an emblematic monument of Provencal religious heritage. Although its present structure dates mainly from the seventeenth century, archives attest to the existence of a church dedicated to St Mary of Tribullanis as early as 1092, on the same site. At the time, this place of worship depended on the hamlet of Limaye, the present village of La Bastide-des-Jourdans not yet founded. This first medieval building illustrates the ancient anchoring of Christianity in this rural area of Provence, where churches served as spiritual and community poles for a predominantly agricultural population.

In the 16th century, the chapel underwent a major transformation. In 1523, his foundation was attested shortly before his consecration in 1535, under the impulse of Barthélemi Gauzan, parish priest. The latter supervised its restoration in 1532, marking a period of renewal for the monument. However, the Wars of Religion (1582-1620) severely damaged the building, requiring a new work campaign completed before 1653. These events reflect the denominational tensions that then stir up Provence, where Catholicism and Protestantism clash for the control of places of worship.

The current chapel is distinguished by its rectangular vaulted choir in a full-finth cradle and its unique nave, covered with dogives falling back on godroned caps. Its facade, fitted and surmounted by a bell tower-wall, has a door decorated with a broken pediment and a niche, typical of the emerging baroque influence. Ranked a historical monument on September 30, 1942, it now belongs to the commune and embodies the persistence of a religious heritage despite historical upheavals. Its architecture thus combines medieval heritage and adaptations of modern and contemporary eras.

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