Chapelle Notre-Dame-des-Monts, Historical chapel in Breil-sur-Roya, France.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-des-Monts stands on the Route de la Madone du Mont in Breil-sur-Roya. Its south apse, main apse and south side wall keep elements of the first Romanesque art, dated to the second half of the 11th century by comparison with the church of the Madone del Poggio at Saorge. The north apse, north wall, interior pillars and arches were added in the 13th century; the bell tower was built before 1643.
The chapel may have been the village's former parish church, in the area now called quartier du Bourg; Breil is first recorded as "Brehl" in a 1157 act. Its south apse and south side wall are early Romanesque, dated to the second half of the 11th century by analogy with the Madone del Poggio at Saorge. A north apse, north wall, pillars and interior arches followed in the 13th century. Raised at the end of the 16th century, probably finished in 1589, it was damaged in 1793, restored between 1819 and 1841, and classified on 28 December 1978.
The chapel is reached by the Route de la Madone du Mont, and its name places it among the mountain shrines of the Roya valley. It may have served as the parish church of the old village site called the Bourg before the settlement moved to the left bank of the Roya. In 1571 the painter Augustin Reibaudi of Triora executed wall paintings here, of which only vestiges survive.
The chapel is located along the Route de la Madone du Mont and is easy to find by following the road. The building was placed under protection in 1978 and is accessible from outside for visitors who want to view the exterior architecture.
The south apse, main apse and south side wall keep elements of the first Romanesque art; the chevet resembles the church of the Madone del Poggio at Saorge, which dates these parts to the second half of the 11th century. The north apse, north wall and interior pillars and arches were added in the 13th century.
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