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Origin and history

The Protestant temple of Rousselet is a reformed religious building located in the Vans, in the department of Ardèche. Built in the early 19th century, it replaces a previous temple destroyed after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. Its architecture is distinguished by a central plan and a four-column porch, typical of Protestant temples of this period.

The implantation of Protestantism in the Vans dates back to 1563, when prior Claude de Beauvoir du Roure and his vicar Jacques Lahondès converted and spread the reformed ideas. The local Catholic church was then demolished to give way to a first temple. After the peace of Alès in 1631, the Protestants had to give up this temple and built a new New Street, destroyed in 1685.

In the 19th century, under the leadership of Pastor Eugene Guérin, the present temple was built between 1823 and 1825, with a solemn inauguration on 7 May 1826. The total cost of 13,940 francs was partly financed by parishioners and the State. In 1873, a project to move the temple to expand a road was refused by the Consistory. The interior paintings, reworked in 1971-72, removed the original Bible inscriptions.

The temple, still active with Dominican cults, was inscribed in the historical monuments on March 8, 2011. It belongs to a cult association and retains its central role in the local Protestant community. Its sober and functional architecture reflects the reformed principles of simplicity and accessibility.

The Ardèche Cevennes region, of which the Vans are part, was an important home of French Protestantism as early as the 16th century. This temple bears witness to the persistence of this religious tradition despite persecution and political upheaval, especially after the revocation of the edict of Nantes.

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