Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Sainte-Emerance Chapel, located in La Pouëze (now Erdre-en-Anjou), is a flamboyant Gothic building built around 1472 during the reign of Louis XI. The king, suffering from violent colic during a hunt in the forest of Longuenee, invoked Saint Emerance, venerated in a local oratory for his healing virtues. He was healed and ordered the building of this chapel in thanksgiving, transferring relics and a golden silver statue of the saint (found at the Revolution). The architecture, marked by Plantagenet vaults and armored keys, reflects its royal status.

The chapel, rectangular to apse in V, presents rare stylistic elements such as imposing foothills, flamboyant bays and a altarpiece decorated with fuseled columns. Inside, a 16th century polychrome statue depicts Saint Emerance with its apron of stones, symbol of its martyrdom. The altar, coming from the ancient church of Vern-d-Anjou, and the staked weapons of kings (notably those of Louis XI and the dolphin Charles VIII) bear witness to his turbulent history, between royal devotion and revolutionary spoliations.

Ranked a historic monument in 1959, the chapel was sold as a national property in 1796 to individuals, then described as "in ruins". Restored in the 19th century (including the western gable and the consoles carved in lion and ram), it preserves traces of its prestigious past: the ten Chapelans established by Louis XI in 1482, the missing relics, and a commemorative plaque recalling its symbolic role for the La Poeze family. Today, it combines medieval heritage and subsequent transformations (XVIIth–XVIIIth centuries).

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