SAINT-GENIÈS CHAPEL

The chapel is located above the hamlet of Vitrolles, on a ridge overlooking the Nize valley. It is a pilgrimage chapel built on a site that appears to have been occupied perhaps as early as the Gallo-Roman period. Abbot Brun, who restored it in 1834, is said to have unearthed the remains of a substantial structure, which he interpreted as the ruins of a castle belonging to the Barons of Tournel, of which the chapel would have been a part. Excavations in 1869 by Abbot Boissonade uncovered bricks, fragments of pottery, and glassware. Although the building's characteristics are difficult to date precisely, it could be of medieval origin; the barrel vault is indeed partially supported by a frieze of arches reminiscent of pilasters. The western entrance resembles the barn entrances of farms in the surrounding countryside and probably dates from the 19th century. Information from the Mérimée database