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Origin and history

The site of Mount Valérien in Suresnes houses two distinct chapels: the crypt, often called "unfinished chapel", and the chapel of Forbin-Janson, of neo-Gothic style. These buildings are integrated into the enclosure of a military fortress built in the 19th century. Their history is marked by successive transformations, from religious uses to military functions, especially during the Second World War.

The crypt, traditionally dated from the 1610s or the reign of Henry III, could actually date back to the construction of the fortress (1840). It consists of stone walls and an annular vault, with an outer gable bearing a bell named Joan d'Arc. Initially planned as a chapel, it was abandoned under construction to concentrate on the restoration of the chapel of Forbin-Janson. In 1954, it was consecrated as St.Gabriel Chapel and today houses commemorative plaques, including one dedicated to German chaplain Franz Stock.

The chapel of Forbin-Janson, built in 1828 at the request of Abbé Charles de Forbin-Janson, was originally a place of pilgrimage housing the tombs of Hubert Charpentier and Guillemette Faussart. When the fortress was built in the 1840s, its entrance was reversed. Disused at the beginning of the 20th century, it served as a stock of weapons before being returned to worship in 1939. During the occupation, it welcomed resistors sentenced to death, whose graffiti are still visible. After the war, it was renovated and its walls painted white.

Both chapels, although closed to the public in normal times, are accessible during European Heritage Days. The crypt remains used for worship by soldiers stationed in the fortress. Their history reflects the upheavals of Mount Valérien, which passed from a place of devotion to a military and memorial site.

Mount Valerian, the high place of the Resistance, is today a symbol of memory. The chapels, with their varied transformations and uses, illustrate the evolution of the religious and military functions of this emblematic site of Île-de-France.

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