Chapelle d'Aurelle
Situated on a rocky ridge in an exceptional setting, the hamlet of Aurelle is well worth a visit. The 14th-century chapel, with its combed bell tower, is a listed monument. It can only be reached on foot.
Chapelle d'Aurelle, built in the 14th century, then renovated by a team of volunteers and listed as a historic monument in the 1980s, is home to a colony of the "grand rhinolophe", a protected species of bat.
Today, it is the largest breeding colony for this species in Occitanie.
Under a municipal decree, the Chapelle d?Aurelle will be closed to the public from May 1 to September 30, 2026
to protect a colony of bats (Grand Rhinolophe) during the breeding season, in accordance with article L411-1 of the
Code de l?environnement, which prohibits the destruction or disturbance of protected species.
The site is of major regional ecological interest for this strictly protected species.
Real-time video surveillance monitors the colony?s progress.
When the chapel is closed :
A virtual tour of the chapel interior is available on smartphone. To explore this remarkable historic monument, simply scan the QR code. You can also view the interior through the small trapdoor built into the door.
Description of Chapelle d'Aurelle :
The original church was destroyed in 1382 by order of the lord. It was rebuilt the following year in the Romanesque style and on the same simple plan: a single nave with 3 bays and a straight choir ending in a semicircular apse. The building's axis is not perfectly oriented to the east, but slightly bent to the northeast, to better adapt to the conformation of the site.
INTERIOR:
The nave, 4 m wide, has a pointed barrel vault. The arches rest on a cornice, 3.50 m high, and rise to 5.60 m. The paving is very basic. The bays are unequal in width, from 2.65 m towards the choir, to 3.10 m. The double arches that punctuate the bays are supported on the outside by solid, projecting buttresses. The decoration, though modest, becomes richer as one moves towards the altar. From a pilaster whose carving echoes the shape of the cornice, we move on to a double-rolled pilaster cushioned by engaged half-columns. The nave is lit from the south by a narrow, splayed window in the middle bay. On the west side, a small late-nineteenth-century window illuminated the now-defunct tribune above the entrance. The right choir bay features a narrow bench and a built-in cupboard. Two small splayed windows, open on either side, provide little light, which must have been compensated for by a luminous whitewash. In places, the stone and plaster polychromy is still visible. The semicircular apse, with its cul-de-four vault, closes the building on the east side. Of the furnishings and statues, little remains: the baptismal font and 2 altar stones, one with a double recess, the other found in 1964, even more frustrating with a small cavity in its center.
EXTERIOR:
As simple as the interior. Open to the west, the segmental-arched portal is double-arched, dropping onto projections from which emerge simple, weathered Gothic columns. An engraved stone depicting the sun or a monstrance may have been reused on one foot. The wooden casements bear the date 1774. Above the door, the gable opens into a small bay surmounted by a human figure. The strong projections of the buttresses give rhythm to the wall. The semi-circular chevet rests directly on the rock. A schist slope forms the base. The masonry then rises in sandstone, with 2 semi-engaged columns with simple bases and capitals. Elements of the old, destroyed building may have been reused, such as the sandstone stones in the curvilinear panels, which are thought to have come from an earlier Romanesque bay. The whole is crowned by a projecting cornice on which the roof rests. Prior to its restoration, the roof was made of clay on the extrados of the vaults, supporting shale cut into flakes. The wall-belfry, or comb-belfry, built on the arch separating the nave from the choir, has 2 arches, each designed to accommodate a bell, and a schist-covered roof frame. During excavations in 1964, the parish priest of Verlac discovered the remains of a statue of the Virgin and Child in the hieratic position typical of Romanesque art. A second statue was found in the altar frame. Standing in painted stone, it represents St Clair, dressed as a bishop with alb and chasuble with 3 large V-shaped folds in front. He wears the mitre, holds the bishop's crozier in his left hand and blesses with his right. On the base is written in red Gothic letters: ?S. CLAIR? Dating from the 15th or 16th century, it has been listed as a Monument Historique since 1986. Near the church, a roadside cross depicting Christ on one side and the Virgin Mary crowned by 2 angels on the reverse, with a shaft featuring 4 figures, has disappeared.
The bells of Aurelle:
The Aurelle wall-belfry once held 2 bells, reported in 1524. In the 17th century, only one remained. Dated from the 16th c. and listed as a Monument Historique in 1938, it is said to have been hidden or forgotten by the Jacobins of St Geniez during the French Revolution. Installed in the Verlac church in 1816 by order of the Prefect, it was removed on January 30, 1817 by the inhabitants of Aurelle and brought back to the chapel, arms in hand. In 1977, it was finally installed in the bell tower of the Verlac church. The well-travelled bell bears the inscription: "AVÉ MARIA G(RATI)A PLENA D(OMIN)US TECUM". It is adorned with a cross and the founder's almond-shaped seal, with a bell and an illegible name in the center.
Text from ?St Pierre d'Aurelle? produced by the ?Association des Amis d'Aurelle? (Édition Breet)
