QR La Sauvetat 7
Saint John the Baptist Chapel
The original chapel underwent extensive alterations during the 19th century. It was extended to the north by the addition of a nave in 1845 and to the south by the addition of a choir in 1881. Only the east and west ends remain, forming the two transept arms of the new church.
The chapel is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, protector of the Order of the Hospitallers. It is fairly small, measuring 18.5 metres in length and 5.25 metres in width. Although the eastern part is barely visible, hidden by more recent constructions, the western part very much is. Its façade has retained a small Romanesque bell tower and its eave walls are crowned by a cornice with sculpted modillions. On the north side, one of these represents a bousset, a kind of small portable barrel reminiscent of the Limagne region’s love of wine growing. To the south is a modillion with a rabbit’s head. The infilled bay in the centre of the façade, where one of the chapel’s three entrances would originally have been, is a 19th-century reproduction of the bay that still exists in the eastern part of the building.
Image captions
- Modillion on the north wall representing a bousset, a small portable barrel.