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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Gilles de Pons is a former Christian building located in the upper town of Pons, Charente-Maritime. It was mentioned in 1067 as "Notre-Dame du Château", then "Notre-Dame-Marie". Built on heavy buttresses, it has a rectangular plan divided into two spans, with thick walls pierced with bays in the middle of the hanger. His bedside, illuminated by an oculus, was modified in the 12th century under Geoffroy III, local lord, to integrate a medieval porch which served as the primitive entrance to the castle.

Under the vaulted passage of the chapel, two Gallo-Roman Milestones recall that the ancient Roman way connecting Mediolanum Santonum (Saints) to Burdigala (Bordeaux) crossed Pons. Disused during the French Revolution, the chapel was reused as an archaeological museum at the end of the 20th century. Nearby, a Renaissance façade, originally located on Rue Vieille-Prison, was raised in the adjacent garden and listed as Historic Monuments in 1925.

The building thus illustrates several epochs: Antiquity with Roman remains, the Middle Ages with its Romanesque structure and its 12th century porch, and modern reuses. Its modest but robust architecture, marked by struts and a sober bedside, reflects its initial role as a castral sanctuary, linked to the seigneurial and religious life of Pons.

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