It is a photo that may have changed the course of history for this 15th century chapel in Bordeaux. This image of the nave occupied by vehicles, taken by a neighbor and broadcast on social networks in 2020, indeed aroused great emotion, and was at the origin of the creation of the “Collective 1120, Save the Church Saint-Jacques de Bordeaux ”by the historian Guilhem Pépin, graduate of Oxford and specialist in Aquitaine of the kings of England.
A little over a year later, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, “decided to automatically classify the chapel of Saint-Jacques as historical monuments, considering [son] great historical and architectural interest as well as [son] state of health ”we learned in a press release from the ministry on August 19.
“When I saw this photo, I said to myself that something had to be done”
The presence of a chapel from the Middle Ages at 10, rue du Mirail was well listed, a lead plaque in the street testifies to this. This is the chapel of the Saint-Jacques hospital-priory from the 12th century, transformed in the 15th century. But it had almost fallen into oblivion, and remained unknown to most Bordeaux residents, the building being invisible from the street. “Personally, I only learned of its existence around 2016-2017, reading an article at the Bordeaux library written in 2015 by a historian, Samuel Drapeau, says Guilhem Pépin. I knew that there had been a priory hospital there, but I did not know that there was still a chapel, I thought it had totally disappeared. “
The site belongs to a private individual, a woman from Bordeaux whom Guilhem Pépin then met. “The discussion was cordial, but it didn’t bring me inside. I did not push the investigations further. Then when I saw this photo of the nave appear in March 2020, on the Facebook page “Bordeaux, I remember”, there I said to myself that something had to be done because it had become a private garage, and the whole was quite dilapidated. The owner, who bought this property in 1997, actually used the nave to rent parking spaces.
“As the chapel was not protected from historical monuments, it could be destroyed or transformed. An intervention was all the more urgent since the vault of the choir had collapsed in the early 2000s. ”The historian therefore wants to obtain a classification, and creates the collective 1120 [date de la création de l’hôpital-prieuré Saint-Jacques] to mobilize citizens. “It started to shake things up. “
“Rare testimony to the medieval past of Bordeaux”
The municipality, under the old majority and then the new one, is mobilizing in turn. The city thus strongly supported, on January 28, a measure of protection before the national commission of heritage and architecture.
Last vestige of the Saint-Jacques priory hospital, set founded in 1120 for the reception of pilgrims on the way to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle by Duke William IX, grandfather by Aliénor d’Aquitaine, the Saint-Jacques chapel (or Saint-James in Gascon) constitutes “one of the rare testimonies of the medieval past of Bordeaux” underlines the Ministry of Culture. “More broadly, it illustrates the history of welcoming pilgrims and the destitute throughout the Ancien Régime. Transformed during the Revolution into a performance hall (Théâtre Molière), it found a religious vocation in the 19th century and then passed into private hands. “
“This monument enriches our knowledge of the pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques, and allows us to understand many subjects relating to the medieval history of Bordeaux, analyzes Stéphane Gomot, municipal councilor for heritage, museums, archeology and memory . In Bordeaux, we bathe in the 18th century, but the history of the city is not confined to this glorious 18th century, and thanks to this monument we can judge the way in which the religious congregations settled in this part of Bordeaux in the Middle Ages, the urban fabric in this southern suburb being directly linked to this period. “
Conservation and restoration work to be carried out
The automatic classification as historical monuments was pronounced “unanimously by the committee, the current owner of the building not having given his agreement to the classification and leaving the building to continue to deteriorate. worrying way ”, continues the press release from the Ministry of Culture.
“This does not mean that the building is saved, because we must now carry out conservation and restoration work, warns Guilhem Pépin, but it is a very important step. From now on, the building can no longer be transformed into apartments or a hotel, as there have been projects of this nature in the past. »30 meters long, 10 meters wide, the chapel represents more than 400 m2 on the ground if we count the spaces around. Right in the center of Bordeaux.
“Premature to comment on the future of this building”
Stéphane Gomot confirms that the classification “will give special powers to the State, to overcome the owner’s lack of will to do work, and the most urgent thing is to consolidate the building. “On the other hand, the city councilor considers that it is” premature to pronounce on its future. “
As for the photo of the parking lot in the nave, the elected official confirms that it has played a role in this story, but he believes that it is “a conjunction of phenomena” which enabled the building to be saved. “At the same time, there was a redefinition of the perimeter of the safeguarded sector – which is now called a remarkable heritage site – and which included the rue du Mirail, it is at this time that the State looked into the folder. The photo above all allowed the affair to become a media topic. “