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Origin and history

The Saint-Saturnin de Jouers chapel, located in Accous in the Aspe Valley, is a 12th century religious building, considered the oldest church in this region. It is distinguished by its 11 carved modillons of rare quality for a small rural building, depicting biblical scenes like Jonas, the Paschal Lamb, or Abraham. Two inscriptions on these modillons, including AGRAAM and FLORENCIAFECI AGNUSD'ITFACERE, suggest the name of a donor, Florence, and confirm the 12th century dating. The chapel, under the name of Saint-Saturnin, was a stop on the path of pilgrims between Oloron and Somport, perhaps founded thanks to the liberality of this noble lady devoted to their service.

The chapel experienced several periods of destruction and reconstruction. Burned in 1559 (or around 1569) by the troops of Arros, like many churches of the valley of Aspe, it was partially rebuilt at the end of the sixteenth century, then restored in the seventeenth century. At the Revolution (1789), it was converted into a fenil, before being rehabilitated between 1852 and 1853 in the face of its disrepair. In 1986, it was included in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments (I.S.M.H.), and work in 1989 revealed the location of the southern Romanesque gate and its chrism tympanum. Its architecture, with an extended single nave of a semicircular apse, includes a bell tower on the west gable and a sacristy added later.

Notable architectural elements include a steep portal on the south façade, a frieze of billets above the modillons, and a small recent quadrangular edicle housing the bell. The chapel, owned by the municipality of Accous, bears witness to both rural Romanesque art and the historical hazards of the Aspe Valley, between medieval pilgrimages, religious conflicts, and modern restorations. Its inscription in the heritage today protects this medieval vestige, symbol of the spiritual and cultural past of the region.

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