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Origin and history

The Leproserie Saint-Lazare de Gisors was founded in 1210 by Jean de Gisors, near a pilgrimage chapel dedicated to Saint Luke, in the territory of present-day Normandy. This site responded to an urgent need in the Middle Ages: to isolate lepers, then rejected by society because of the fear of contagion. The chapel, in Romanesque style with bays and a typical chevron decor, was already mentioned as early as 1210, although its construction may go back to an earlier period. The complex also included agricultural buildings and living spaces for the sick, organized around this chapel.

In the 13th century, the leprosy took the name of Notre-Dame et Saint-Lazare, with reference to the patron saint of lepers, while the chapel was dedicated to Saint Luke, patron saint of doctors. The establishment was redesigned in the 15th and 17th centuries, while leprosy retreated in Europe. From the middle of the 15th century, for lack of patients, its management was entrusted to a bourgeois of Gisors, who paid the rents received to the needy of the city. In the 18th century, it was transformed into the Office of the Poor, before the chapel served as a barn after the Revolution.

Archaeological excavations carried out between 1996 and 2013 revealed medieval and modern burials in and around the chapel, as well as objects from the 15th to 16th centuries (ceramics, pavement tiles). These findings confirm the funeral use of the site and its continued occupation. In 1992, the chapel was classified as a historical monument, and then restored in 1996 to save its wooden panels and fragmentary murals. A contemporary work was added in the late 1990s by artist Dado, commissioned by the municipality.

Today, the chapel Saint-Luc (110 m2), with its rectangular nave in limestone bellows and its wooden bedside, is the last visible vestige of the leprosy. It is located west of Gisors, near the communal cemetery, in the department of Eure. The adjacent, private agricultural buildings recall the former agricultural vocation of the site. The 1992 protection covers both the building and the surrounding parcel, highlighting its heritage importance.

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