Chapelle de la Papillaie
MonumentHidden Treasure
Chapelle de la Papillaie, located in Angers (Maine-et-Loire), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4598, -0.5994
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108868
Nestling in the old Anjou suburb, the Papillaie chapel is a soberly elegant 13th-century Gothic building, a rare example of medieval piety in Anjou, and a listed historic monument.
History
Hidden away in the urban fabric of Angers, the Papillaie chapel is one of those discreet gems that history has preserved around the bend in a street, far from the beaten tourist track. Built in the 13th century, it belongs to the generation of oratories and private or community chapels that dotted the medieval town of Angers, satellites of the great cathedral of Saint-Maurice, whose Gothic works were then spreading throughout the region. What makes La Papillaie so special is precisely its resistance to obliteration. While hundreds of medieval French chapels have disappeared under the blows of revolutions, wars or property speculation, this one has survived, listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 7 December 1970, official recognition of its irreplaceable heritage value in the religious and architectural landscape of Anjou. A visit to the Papillaie chapel is a step back in time to medieval Angers, the time of the Plantagenet lords and the counts of Anjou, when the town enjoyed a remarkable architectural boom. The local tuffeau stone, the soft, luminous limestone so characteristic of the Loire Valley, gives the building a warm blond hue that lights up according to the time of day. The setting is an invitation to contemplate and slow down. Visitors will find a peaceful atmosphere, protected from the noise of the modern city, conducive to attentive observation of the sculpted details, the Gothic proportions and the economy of means that characterise this devotional architecture on the threshold of the 13th century.
Architecture
The Papillaie chapel illustrates the 13th-century Anjou Gothic style, characterised by the sobriety of the exterior elevations and the technical mastery typical of builders in the Loire region. The building probably has a simple rectangular plan with a single nave ending in an apse or flat chevet, as was common practice in rural and urban chapels of this period in Anjou. The walls are built of tuffeau, the white or golden limestone typical of the Loire Valley, the material of choice in Anjou workshops since the Romanesque period. The roof, probably made of Anjou slate - the blue-black slate whose quarries in Trélazé, a few kilometres from Angers, have supplied building sites throughout the region since the Middle Ages - caps a contained volume, with walls buttressed by discreet buttresses. The openings are reduced to a few lancet windows with pointed arches, characteristic of the early Gothic style, which filter a subdued light into the nave. Inside, the decoration remains in the spirit of concentrated medieval devotion: moulded bases, capitals with hooks or flat leaves typical of 13th-century Anjou Gothic, and a barrel vault or simple ogives make up a stylistically coherent whole. Far from being impoverished, the chapel's sparing ornamentation reflects the spiritual rigour typical of the religious foundations of this period, when architecture itself became prayer.
Related Figures
Comtes d'Anjou (maison des Plantagenêt), commanditaires du grand renouveau architectural angevin au XIIIe siècleÉvêques d'Angers du XIIIe siècle, autorités ecclésiastiques encadrant les fondations de chapelles dans le diocèseMaîtres maçons angevins anonymes, héritiers des ateliers gothiques formés sur le chantier de la cathédrale Saint-MauriceFondateurs laïcs inconnus, famille seigneuriale ou confrérie ayant commandité et doté la chapelleAndré Pavie, érudit angevin du XIXe siècle, figures du type de ceux qui contribuèrent à recenser le patrimoine médiéval local avant les grandes campagnes de classement
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chapelle de la Papillaie located?
Chapelle de la Papillaie is located in Angers, Maine-et-Loire department, Pays de la Loire region, France.
When was Chapelle de la Papillaie built?
Chapelle de la Papillaie dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Chapelle de la Papillaie open to visitors?
Chapelle de la Papillaie is currently closed to visitors.