Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The chapel of Saint-André-de-Julhans, located in Roquefort-la-Bédoule in the Bouches-du-Rhône, dates from the 12th century. It was mentioned in 1143 under the name of Notre-Dame-de-Julhans, but also called Saint-André de Julhans or Notre-Dame de Sécheresse. In the Middle Ages, it was surrounded by some dwellings, but was abandoned in the seventeenth century, when the population descended into the plain to found the present village. This monument, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1987, bears witness to the medieval occupation of the site, linked to the Abbey of Saint-Victor of Marseille.

The medieval village of Roquefort, of which the chapel was part, developed as a refuge for populations fleeing the Saracen raids between the 5th and 12th centuries. The site, dominated by an 11th century fortress and a first church of Saint John the Baptist, was a fortified center dependent on the Abbey of Saint Victor. In 1079, Pope Gregory VII dedicated the Church of Saint John the Baptist, confirming its religious importance. The chapel of Saint-André, perched on a piton, illustrates this period of defensive retreat before the village grew in the plain in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the 19th century, Roquefort-la-Bédoule was transformed with industrialisation, thanks in particular to the quarries and cement plants operating the Bédoulien, a local geological formation. The chapel, partially restored by an association and then by the departmental council (current owner), remains a symbol of the medieval Provencal heritage. Its current isolation in the state forest contrasts with its past role in the heart of a fortified village, now reduced to ruins.

The site also includes traces of dwellings and a wall of enclosure to the northeast, protected with the chapel. These remains, associated with the ruins of the old Roquefort, recall the defensive and community organization of the Middle Ages. The chapel, though disused, retains a major historical value to understand the evolution of the settlement and local activities, from the Saracen raids to the industrial era.

External links