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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The building in Pézenas, dating from the 1st quarter of the 16th century, is distinguished by a Renaissance niche classified as Historic Monument. This niche, built after the initial construction, is one of the oldest in the Herault department, where the majority of niches date from the 17th and 18th centuries. It houses a statue of Saint Roch, represented as a pilgrim and showing his wound to the leg, symbol of popular devotion.

The niche belongs to the first period of the Ornamental Renaissance, as attests its architectural style and date of 1511, engraved or deduced from the analysis of the apparatus. Filed by decree of 28 April 1936, it is now owned by the municipality of Pézenas. Its location, at 10 Alfred Sabatier Street, makes it a heritage element integrated with the city's historic urban fabric, although its exact location is considered to be of poor accuracy (level 5/10).

Saint Roch, invoked against epidemics such as the plague, was a major figure of devotion in Languedoc-Roussillon (now Occitanie) during the Renaissance. The niches hosting its representations served both as a spiritual landmark for pilgrims and as a symbolic protection for the inhabitants. This type of architectural element reflects the importance of local cults and religious practices in the daily life of the urban communities of the time.

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