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Origin and history

The chapel Sainte-Anne du Pallet, located in the Loire-Atlantique department, is a 12th century religious building, the last vestige of the parish church of Saint Vincent. It was built in the second half of the 11th century, adjacent to a pre-existing castral chapel dating from the late 10th or early 11th century. These two chapels were later extended westward to form the bedside of the Saint Vincent church, before 1646, as evidenced by a drawing preserved at the Dobbree Museum in Nantes.

In 1683, the Archdeacon Binet described the church of Saint Vincent as dilapidated, with a choir threatened with ruin, owned by the lord of the Galissonnière. During the Revolution, the choir, formerly castral chapel, disappeared. The church was finally razed in 1853, but the Sainte-Anne chapel was preserved thanks to the intervention of Prosper Mérimée. A new church is then built in the village, reusing the stones of the old building.

The chapel, listed as historical monuments in 1941, was restored in 1957. It is distinguished by its modest architecture: a square nave arched in cradle, extended by an apse in cul-de-four. Its north wall, marked by flat buttresses, belongs to the old castral chapel. Outside, later added foothills strengthen the structure. The façade, pierced by an arcade of full hanger, corresponded to the former junction with the collateral.

The chapel houses four tombstones from Saint John Chapel. Its location, near the ruins of the Roman dungeon, suggests a historical proximity to the stronghold. The windows of the abside, engraved with false harpsichords, and the incomplete initial plan evoke a poitevin inspiration, similar to the church of Saint-Nicolas-de-Brem in Vendée.

Today, the chapel of Sainte-Anne bears witness to the medieval history of the Pallet, linked to both seigneurial power and parish life. Its architecture and history reflect the successive transformations of the site, from its Castral origin to its preservation as a historical monument.

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