Mère Église en Dévoluy, Romanesque church in Dévoluy, France

Mère Église en Dévoluy is a Romanesque church perched on a rocky outcrop above Saint-Disdier village, with a three-part nave topped by barrel vaults and a bell tower marked by paired windows. The structure sits on an elevated position above the surrounding landscape, making it visible from far below.

The chapel of the Gicons, called Mère Église, was built in the 11th and 12th centuries in Alpine Romanesque style. It was classified as a monument historique on 14 March 1927. Long left abandoned, it was kept in good condition by the association des amis de Mère Église and the commune of Dévoluy.

Inside, the wooden tribune carries carved motifs of fleurs-de-lis, moons and suns typical of Alpine figurative culture. Above it, a 15th-century Last Judgment shows Christ teaching in a mandorla, flanked by the twelve apostles, Mary and John the Baptist, with vices and virtues at the base. The chapel is only opened for religious services or exceptional events.

Access is by the small road linking the valley to the hamlets of Gicons, higher up the mountain, or on foot via the narrow, rough waymarked GR 93 path. The chapel does not take visitors and opens only for religious services or exceptional events. A cemetery adjoins it to the south, and the entrance is a side door on the south side.

The church is not open to visitors; it only opens for religious services or exceptional events. The building owes its good condition to the association of the friends of Mère Église (AAME) and to the commune of Dévoluy, after long periods of abandonment.