Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The chapel Notre-Dame de Beaulieu-sur-Layon originated in the clearing of the forest of Latay by the Ronceray Abbey in the late 11th century. A priory and a parish church were founded in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, on which the chapel originally depended, erected before the end of the 11th century, and then rebuilt in the 12th and 15th centuries. A first decoration painted in the 13th century was covered in 1550 by a second.

Until 1768, the chapel depended on the parish of Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay. That year, Beaulieu-sur-Layon became an independent parish by decree of the bishop of Angers, Jacques de Grasse, in response to complaints from the inhabitants about the difficulties of access to Saint-Lambert. The chapel was then promoted to parish church, but its bell tower was shot down in 1794 during the Vendée War to prevent counter-revolutionary gatherings.

In the 19th century, faced with the old building, the municipality decided to build a new church in 1841. The old one, classified as a historical monument in 1853, was partially destroyed in 1855: only the abside is preserved as a chapel. A Jesse Tree, painted on the vault, is covered with a brush before being rediscovered and erased in 1978 during restorations. These works reveal a Christ in Majesty of the 13th or 15th century, surrounded by the Tetramorph, as well as the decorations painted in the oculus.

The present building is limited to the original choir, 6.50 m long, illuminated by six bays including an axial oculus. The sculpted, sober decor dates from the 12th century, with geometric patterns and coarsely cut baskets. The cul-de-four vault houses Christ in Majesty, surrounded by symbols of the evangelists, while the once-walled cul-de-four vault is decorated with a false apparatus reinforcing its luminous symbolism.

Definitely listed as a historic monument in 1926, the chapel illustrates the transformations of a medieval religious building, marked by conflicts, reconstructions and restorations. Its history also reflects the evolution of the parish landscape Angelin, between ecclesiastical dependencies and communal autonomy.

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