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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Michel, also known as the Chapel of the Penitents-Blancs, is an 18th-century Baroque religious building located in Place de Nice in La Brig, in the Alpes-Maritimes. Built in 1700 thanks to Abbé Jacques Spinelli, from the commune, it adopts an octagonal plan and a Piedmontese style. Its architecture, marked by pilasters and an elliptical vault repainted in the nineteenth century, suggests a possible influence of Maurizio Bertola, architect who worked in Nice.

Ranked a historic monument on March 3, 1949, the chapel was initially linked to a hospice. It is distinguished by its two levels separated by cornices and its neat interior decor. Restored between 1984 and 1985, it illustrates the religious and artistic heritage of the region, mixing local and Italian influences. Its attribution to an association makes it today a preserved historic place.

The sources evoke a stylistic relationship with the works of Camillo-Guarino Guarini, although the exact plans remain attributed to local artisans. The chapel thus embodies the influence of the Alpine baroque in the Southern Alps, while at the same time attesting to the piety and ecclesiastical patronage of the modern era.

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