Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

L'ermitage Notre-Dame-du-Saint-Sépulcre is a 12th-century Romanesque chapel located in an isolated wooded setting a few hundred meters from the departmental road D166, northeast of Cavillargues (Gard, Occitanie). According to tradition, it was founded by Knight William II of Sabran upon the return of the First Crusade, in thanksgiving. Its primitive architecture, of a Romanesque nature, is distinguished by its warheads and its inner culs-de-four, as well as a vaulted nave in a full hanger cradle.

In the 15th century, the chapel became a priory dependent on the abbey of Saint-Justin de Sézade (diocese of Aix), before being reunited in 1459 at the priory of Carsan. Too small for the cultural needs, it was enlarged between 1854 and 1860, with the addition of two side chapels inspired by the Marian pilgrimages of Lourdes and La Salette. Only the Romanesque part of the 12th century, with its cul-de-four apse decorated with bicolored harpsichords, has been classified as a historical monument since 2 March 1981.

The building illustrates the evolution of religious practices in Languedoc, from a medieval hermitage linked to the crusades to a modern Marian devotion. The early chapel, with its slightly broken triumphal arch supported by ground lamp-ends, remains the most remarkable testimony in its history. Today owned by the municipality of Cavillargues, it retains a discreet location, preserved in its original forest environment.

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