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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Sainte-Madeleine chapel of Bourg-en-Bresse, located in the department of Ain, was built between 1933 and 1935 under the direction of the Lyon architect Georges Curtelin, in the enclosure of a religious asylum dedicated to alienated women. This project, initiated by the Superior Mother Angélique in 1902 but carried out under Mother Ambrose, replaces a chapel that became too small for an establishment welcoming nearly 1,000 patients at the beginning of the 20th century. The new chapel, blessed in 1935 by Bishop Amédée Maisonobe, is distinguished by its modern design, generous lighting and a unified decoration signed by Jean Coquet (painter-decorator), Joseph Belloni (sculptor) and Amédée Cateland (goldsmith).

The building is part of a hospitable building founded in 1826 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, where the buildings, organized around a central park, separate patients according to their degree of autonomy. The chapel, designed between two existing pavilions, incorporates a historic porch and radiant chapels dedicated to the sick, initially closed by gates (walled in the 1960s). Its bold architecture, hailed by the press of the time for its "clearness and simplicity", marks a break with traditional Romanesque or Gothic styles. The carillon, blessed in 1934 by Bishop Virgile Béguin, and the solemn consecration in 1935 underline its symbolic importance.

Ranked a historical monument in 2013 and labeled Heritage of the 20th century in 2012, the chapel remains open to worship despite the transformation of the site into public services by the General Council of Ain (repurchased in 2001). His choir, divided into two spaces (one for the nuns, the other for the sick), reflects his original vocation: to combine spirituality and care. Subsequent modifications, such as the removal of grids or the reassignment of chapels to offices, testify to its adaptation to contemporary uses, while preserving its artistic and historical heritage.

The site of La Madeleine, whose spatial organization was frozen around 1879, also includes a "Château" (pensionnat Sainte-Marie) and medical buildings located on the outskirts of the park. The latter, once cultivated by patients, illustrates the therapeutic philosophy of the time, combining manual work and isolation. The chapel, led by nuns and doctors such as Dr.Antoine Peloux, embodies the evolution of psychiatric practices in the 19th century, while the chapel, with its architecture and decoration, symbolizes the modernization of places of worship in the 20th century.

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