Bethlehem Chapel, Gothic chapel in Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, France.
Bethlehem Chapel is a Roman Catholic chapel in Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, built of rough brown and grey stone with lighter smooth stone framing its corners, window surrounds and buttresses. Its rectangular east-west body has a steep dark grey roof, a large pointed-arch window with tracery above a smaller arched doorway on the left, and two tall pointed-arch windows with dark glass on the side wall. A small arched wooden door sits low in the side wall, and stepped stone footings run along the base.
The site's sacred origin lies in a spring where Druids held Beltane fertility ceremonies; in the Middle Ages Christianity took over the cult and installed Notre-Dame de Bethléem, though the west bay sculptures still refer to Druidic worship. The chapel was classified as a historic monument on 30 August 1911.
The site's sacred origin lies in a spring where Druids held Beltane fertility ceremonies; Christianity later established Notre-Dame de Bethléem there, and sculptures on the west opening still refer to the Druidic cult. The 28 chimeras carved in 1995 by Jean-Louis Boistel mix mythology, Christianity and modern references, including Goldorak, Gizmo and a Xenomorph from Alien.
The building sits next to a local road and is easy to approach from the outside, with a circuit around the structure revealing all details. The best time for viewing is during daylight hours when the stonework is clearly visible.
The 1993–1995 restoration did not enlarge the chapel: it replaced the missing corner pinnacles, and sculptor Jean-Louis Boistel carved 28 chimeras for them. Among these figures are Goldorak, Gizmo and a Gremlin, and a Xenomorph from the film Alien standing for Leviathan. The project was approved after the town's young people backed it.
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