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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Roch-du-Férétra, located in Place Saint-Roch in Toulouse, finds its origins in the 13th century with the arrival of the Carmelites in the city. In 1369, it welcomed the relics of St. Thomas of Aquinas, entrusted by Pope Urban V, marking its religious importance from the Middle Ages. The site would have been built on the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter Feretrus, reused by the early Christians to erect a first chapel. At that time, it served a maladry (leproserie) located on the outskirts of Toulouse, in accordance with medieval practices of isolation of the sick.

In the 16th century, the chapel became the seat of a brotherhood dedicated to Saint-Roch, protector against epidemics, reflecting its role in popular devotion. The current building, although redesigned, retains 13th century elements, such as the Western Wall. Between 1784 and 1786, the engineer Jean-Arnaud Raymond and his brother, inspired by Palladian architecture, undertook a major interior renovation: walls coated with white, Tuscan columns and cornice in red bricks. The bell tower, destroyed during the French Revolution, bears witness to the upheavals of this period.

In the 19th century, the chapel passed into the hands of private individuals and even served as a coal warehouse, before being bought in the 1980s by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. Since then, it has become an active place of worship, celebrating daily Mass in Latin according to the tridentine rite. Ranked a historic monument in 1979, it embodies both a hybrid architectural heritage (Roman, medieval, classical) and a rare liturgical continuity. Its present name, Notre-Dame du Férétra, recalls its link with the occitan traditions of penance and indulgences related to Lent.

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