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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame de Mas church, located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, was built in the 12th century by the monks of the Lérins Abbey in a late Romanesque style. This territory, mentioned in the 11th century as Maz, was linked to the abbey which owned land and fed its herds there. The first written reference to a local lord, Lambert du Mas, dates from 1252, when he was convicted of murder by the Count of Savoie. The building, quoted in 14th century accounts (1351 and 1376), was listed as a historical monument in 1937.

The church, with a single nave and a semicircular apse, presents traces of a missing southern chapel, probably demolished to enlarge the adjacent cemetery. Its double bell tower, later added to the south wall, and its outlying position compared to the present village suggest that it occupied the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman hamlet, as evidenced by the remains of tegulae discovered nearby. A crypt, now full, and 12th century baptismal fonts, surmounted by a pyramidal lid, remain.

The church was a medieval pilgrimage place dedicated to Saint Arnoux, whose bust-reliquary is now preserved in the chapel of Saint Arnoux of the village. Two legends clash on his identity: a mayor of the palace of Thibert d' Austrasie who became a monk in Lérins around 600, or a bishop of Gap of the 11th century, a period closer to the construction of the building. Consecrated again in 2007 by the bishop of Nice, the church benefited from major restorations in 1978 and 2006, covering its facades, walls and vaults.

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