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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame-des-Anges Chapel is a Catholic religious building built to serve the seaside area of Pontaillac in Royan. This neighborhood, born in 1855 thanks to the Bordeaux entrepreneur Jean Lacaze, quickly became a popular resort by the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. The seasonal demographics make it necessary to build a place of worship, but the project is facing the refusal of Father Mazure, parish priest of Royan, who favours a new sanctuary in the city centre. A provisional solution was found in 1871 with the building of the church of the Assumption-de-Notre-Dame in Vaux-sur-Mer, managed by the Sisters of Charity of Bordeaux.

The conflict was resolved in 1891 when Abbé Portier, Mazure's successor, finally supported the construction of a chapel in Pontaillac. The plans are entrusted to architect Eustase Rullier, and the masterpiece to entrepreneurs Joseph and Michel Ricoux. The first stone was laid on 2 February 1891 in the presence of the bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes, Pierre-Marie-Etienne-Gustave Ardin. The building, of neo-Gothic style with Hispano-Andalusian influences, is characterized by a stone façade, a polylobed rosette, and a sober interior decoration, with the exception of the frescoes of the choir made by Léon Millet in 1897.

The church, spared by the bombings of 1945, houses remarkable furniture, including an Art Deco high altar, a stained glass window by Francis Gigot (1949), and statues like that of Saint Joseph, carved in 1892 by Victor Bariller. Its architecture reflects the eclectic tendencies of the late 19th century, mixing medieval and orientalist references. The chapel remains a testimony of Royan's urban and religious history, linked to the rise of seaside resorts and tensions between clerical power and local development.

The district of Pontaillac, originally designed as a state-of-the-art estate for curists, embodies the golden age of "sea baths" in France. Its rapid development in twenty years makes it a symbol of worldliness, summed up by the maxim: "Everyone goes to Royan, but not everyone goes to Pontaillac. The construction of the chapel is part of this context of social transformation, where the Church must adapt to a seasonal and affluent population, while managing internal rivalries between parishes and clergy.

The former chapel of Pontaillac, sold in 1899 to the authorities of Vaux-sur-Mer, illustrates the territorial and religious recompositions of the region. The present building, which is still in operation, retains original elements such as its vaulted arch, its geminied bays, and its neo-Gothic confessional of 1895. Its history also reflects the post-Second World War heritage dynamics, marked by the miraculous preservation of the church during the destruction of Royan in 1945.

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