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Origin and history

The chapel Notre-Dame de la Salette rises on Mount Pipet in Vienna (Isère), a site occupied since ancient times. In the third and fourth centuries, the Romans built a sacred oppidum, with temples and a monumental 125-metre-long hemicycle, visually linked to the theatre and forum below. The retaining walls, still visible, bear witness to its importance as a religious and strategic area along a Gaulish way. This site, classified as Historical Monument in 1927 and 1944, illustrates Roman urban planning in the region.

In the Middle Ages, Mount Pipet became a medieval fortress, disputed between the kings of Burgundy, the Church of Vienna (which took possession of it in 1023), then the canons and archbishop from the thirteenth century. Conflicts continued until the 17th century, when Richelieu ordered the destruction of the Dauphiné strongholds in 1633, razing the fortifications of Pipet and the nearby Building. The site, abandoned, nevertheless retains its ancient and medieval remains.

The rebirth of the place occurred in the 19th century, marked by increasing Marian devotion. In 1858, a statue of the Virgin, made of Volvic stone, was erected on a brick tower, followed in 1873 by the construction of the current chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame de La Salette. Designed by architect Abel Jouffray, it commemorates the Marian apparitions of 1846 in Dauphiné. Its stained glass windows celebrate Viennese Christian history, from martyrs to bishops, while the hill also houses a heritage cemetery with marked elevation.

The area of Pipet, between the Pipet and Sainte-Blandine Mountains, thus preserves a unique historical stratification: from the Roman oppidum to the place of contemporary pilgrimage, through a medieval fortress. A city of art and history, Vienna preserves a religious, military and urban heritage, reflecting two millennia of continuous occupation.

The successive protections (1927 for the oppidum, 1944 for the Roman walls, 1946 for the plots) underline the archaeological value of the site. Today, the chapel and its surroundings offer a panorama of the city, while recalling the transformations of Mount Pipet, from its ancient sacred role to its modern spiritual vocation.

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