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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Martin-du-Cardonnet is a Romanesque chapel built in the 12th century on the ruins of the thermal baths of a Gallo-Roman villa. It belonged to a priory whose remains remain around the building. In the 17th century, it served several scattered mas (Lamouroux, Terrus, Figuières, etc.), reflecting a fragmented rural habitat. A 1600 text mentions his attachment to the parish of Saint-Étienne de Prunet, now extinct.

In the 16th century, the chapel suffered a Huguenot assault during the Wars of Religion. A 1899 account, The Federation of the Four Mas, evokes a symbolic reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants in its walls. The building, in partial ruin, was restored several times: in 1974 (nave roof, glacis of the abside) and in 1995 (replacement of the deteriorated cover).

Architecturally, the chapel presents a rectangular plan completed by a semicircular apse, typical of Romanesque art. The unique nave, vaulted in a cradle, is rhythmized by double arches falling over pilasters. A late bell tower, pierced by broken arcades, overlooks the west facade. The site, close to a pond (the Estagnol), derives its name from thistle, used to treat wool.

Ranked a historic monument in 1989, the chapel is located in a garrigue area east of the castle of Aumelas, on a former military terrain. Its enclosure retains traces of the medieval priory. The place illustrates the religious and social history of Languedoc, between denominational conflicts and rural life.

The sources also mention a castellam quoted in 1036, linked to the Abbey of Aniane (IXth century) and then to the Viscounts of Béziers (Xth century). In the 12th century, the seigneury belonged to the Guilhem de Montpellier, confirming the feudal anchoring of the site. Today a communal property, the chapel remains a testimony of Romanesque architecture and local dynamics between the Middle Ages and the modern era.

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