Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame du Brusc, located in Châteauneuf-Grasse in the Alpes-Maritimes, is an emblematic monument dating back to the 6th century. Archaeological excavations carried out between 1958 and 1975 revealed a Paleo-Christian cemetery as well as the remains of a first church, accompanied by a unique rural Baptistery in Provence. This site, marked by an intermittent source, would have been a place of worship and assembly from ancient times, as evidenced by the coins and imported ceramics discovered.

In the 11th century, a large Romanesque basilica (40 metres long) was built on this site, becoming a major pilgrimage site in the diocese of Antibes. This church, dependent on the abbey of Lérins, had rare architectural peculiarities, such as pyramidal pillars inspired by Catalan churches and an elevated Italian choir. A crypt dedicated to Saint Aigulphe, associated with a source of healing virtues, strengthened his sacred character.

Partly destroyed during the Wars of Religion, the church was restored in the 17th and 18th centuries, adopting a baroque decor of gypsum and stucco. The excavations also revealed traces of occupation dating back to the Chalcolithic period (c. 2500 B.C.), confirming the continuing historical importance of this site. Ranked a historic monument in 1986, the church and its surroundings today preserve the traces of these multiple historical strata.

The sixth century Baptistery, discovered in 1968, is a rare example of a rural Baptistery in Provence. Rectangularly with four niches, it housed a heptagonal baptismal tank, close to the Cimiez model but unique in its seven-sided shape. This Baptistery, strictly separated from the church, illustrates the importance of the site as an early evangelization centre in the region.

The crypt of Saint Aigulphe, located under the choir, was a place of devotion linked to a miraculous statue of the saint, whose powder, mixed with the water of the spring, was deemed to cure fevers and eye pains. Accessible by two opposite stairs, this rectangular crypt preserves a Roman funerary cippe re-used as a pillar, testifying to the successive reuse of materials on the site.

The excavations also revealed an ancient pagan cemetery and a Chalcolithic site, confirming an uninterrupted human occupation for more than 4,000 years. The currencies of Marseille, Carthage and Byzantium, as well as the imported ceramics, suggest intense trade, possibly linked to a periodic gathering of people along a major road linking Nice and Arles.

External links