Chapelle des Pénitents noirs de Monteux, Chapel in Monteux, France
The Chapelle des Pénitents Noirs de Monteux is a small stone chapel on Rue Alphonse Daudet in the town of Monteux, used as a place of worship and a venue for cultural events. It has a single nave and a plain rectangular layout, with enough room to seat around 150 people.
The Confrérie des Pénitents Noirs was founded in Monteux in 1566 and used a first chapel behind the church of Notre-Dame de Nazareth for nearly two centuries. Their second building was seized and sold during the French Revolution, and it was only in 1842 that they were able to build the present chapel on land given by a local rector.
The chapel holds a statue of Saint Gens, the patron saint of Monteux, at the center of an annual pilgrimage that locals still observe today. Stained glass windows installed in 2018 show members of the brotherhood performing acts of charity, and their colors shift noticeably depending on the time of day.
Entry to the chapel is free, and guided tours led by a local craftsman are available to help visitors understand the stained glass windows and the history of the site. Since the chapel also hosts exhibitions, it is worth checking beforehand whether an event is taking place during your visit.
After the death of Chanoine Laporte in the 1960s, the brotherhood stopped functioning, leaving the chapel without its founding community for nearly half a century. The building has since found a second life as an exhibition space, kept alive by the town rather than by the order that built it.
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