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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Templar Chapel of Bussière-Rapy, located in Saint-Amand-Magnazeix, New Aquitaine, dates from the 12th century. This historic monument belonged to the Templars and is cited in the archives of the trial of their order. It was one of the five outbuildings of the Morterolles Commandory, including two farmhouses and two mills. Its architecture, now partially ruined, was characterized by a single-nave rectangular plan, a bedside pierced by a novel triplet, and a limo-mouluration portal.

As early as the 17th century, the building deteriorated: the vault of the nave had disappeared before 1615, and the vault of the choir was demolished to avoid accidents. After the Revolution, the chapel, sold in 1804, was decommissioned and partly transformed into a shed. Inside, there are wall paintings with geometrical, fanciful motifs and crosses, as well as an imitation of a stone apparatus. Classified as a Historic Monument in 1986, it bears witness to the regional Templar heritage.

The location of the chapel, although documented (1 La Bussière Rapy, 87290 Saint-Amand-Magnazeix), remains approximate according to the available sources, with a cartographic accuracy deemed a priori satisfactory. The building, now protected, illustrates the medieval heritage and the influence of military-religious orders in Limousin, integrated since 2016 in the New Aquitaine region.

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