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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The chapel of Notre-Dame-d'Alet was born in a Marian apparition in the 12th century to a labourer named Raymond, leading to the construction of a first sanctuary destroyed in 1568 by the Huguenots. In 1673, the Virgin reappeared to Raymond Vialette and other inhabitants, triggering the reconstruction of the chapel, whose first stone was laid in December 1673. The first Mass was celebrated in April 1674, and the sanctuary was enlarged by the involvement of Henri Le Masuyer, Attorney General of the Toulouse Parliament.

In the 18th century, the site experienced an influx of pilgrims, requiring the addition of a chapel and a cloister. The baroque altarpieces, including that of the high altar by Thibaud Maistrier, date from this period. During the Revolution, a side chapel was destroyed, but the inhabitants saved the building, later bought by parishioners. In the 19th century, the priests of the Sacred Heart restored the sanctuary, adding a porch, a fourth chapel, and stained glass windows signed Gesta.

The chapel houses two notable Virgins of Pitié: a 16th century stone (Burgundy style) and a 17th century terracotta by Étienne Dugast, originally placed on the roof. In 1863, the statue of the Virgin was crowned with the permission of Pius IX. In 1995, Sister Emmanuelle stayed there, and in 2019, a reliquary of Saint Dominique was installed there. Ranked a historic monument in 1988, it preserves a 17th-century golden altarpiece and a painted ceiling.

The building illustrates a syncretism between popular devotion and artistic heritage, marked by apparitions, destruction, and reconstructions carried by the local community. Its covered atrium, former cloister, bears witness to its historic role of welcoming pilgrims. The protected elements include the painted ceiling, the atrium, and the porch of 1863, under the responsibility of the municipality.

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