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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Benoît was built as a chapel of the convent of the Ladies of Saint-Benoît, founded in 1645 by Jeanne Antoinette d'Esparbes de Lussan, Marquise de Grignols, with the approval of the bishop of Agen. His daughter, Hypolitice de Grignols, a nun at Saintes, became his first superior mother. The Marquise acquired land in 1646 in the area of Lestang to erect the convent, closed with walls. The portal, dating from 1662, probably marks the completion of the chapel. The convent buildings were rebuilt around 1760 by Marsaudon.

During the Revolution, the convent was seized as a national good in 1790, transformed into a forage warehouse and then into a concert hall. The chapel, erected as a relief chapel in 1826, regained its cultural use in 1839 after restoration. The old convent buildings then housed the sub-prefecture. Two side chapels were added in 1868. Ranked a historic monument in 2005, it retains an exceptional decoration: a walled ceiling with biblical medallions, paintings of Christ by John Michel (1703–05), and a golden wooden altarpiece.

Architecture, sober (a unique nave with flat bedside), contrasts with the richness of its interior decoration. The classic portal, adorned with an angelot tympanum, and the carved 17th century vantals bear witness to its past prestige. The wall paintings, organized in quadrilobes and squares on a background of rinceaux, illustrate biblical scenes. Three major paintings, signed Jean Michel (Toulousan painter), date from 1703–05. The tabernacle and statues of St Benedict and St Scholastic in golden wood complete this Baroque ensemble.

The convent, founded for a women's Benedictine community, reflects the influence of local elites: the Marquise de Grignols, by its patronage, linked its name to this place. The revolutionary seizure and reallocation of buildings (sub-prefecture) illustrate the political upheavals of the 19th century. The restoration of 1839 and the addition of the chapels in 1868 marked his religious renaissance, while the 2005 classification consecrated his heritage value.

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