Practical Information
All visits are
accompanied
·
Every day (excluding Sundays and holidays)
From 16 h to 18 h
30 from 21 July to 21 September
·
At other times in the year group visits can be
arranged in advance by contacting the
parish office, 2 rue Millaud, 13210 Saint-Rémy
(a
minimum eight days prior notice is requested)
For all further information :
Please contact the
parish office
Mornings between 9
h 30 and 11 h 30
Telephone 04 90 92
10 51
Situation in Saint-Rémy
Pastoral
Dear visitors
We are happy to
welcome you to this, our parish church and especially here to the bell tower
and this chapel which have recently been restored.
The
height of the tower above the rooftops of our small town is significant in two
ways : to be seen from afar, a sign
of God’s presence among the people and to enable the bells to be heard as they
call the faithful to worship or less frequently on other solemn occasions.
As a funeral chapel
dedicated to Jean de Renaud, the chapel was built and
stands today as a symbol of everlasting life. For 2000 years we have known
Jesus, of his life, his
passion and crucifixion
and of his resurrection in the eternity of
God, through the path opened to us by the sacrament of baptism.
The parish church
is the meeting place for Catholics in Saint Rémy. It
is here that we celebrate the important moments of our passage on earth
(baptism, confirmation, Holy Communion, reconciliation, marriage, death) and
where we gather together for prayer.
It is also a place
of welcome and
a sanctuary for the many visitors to our town ; As the door is opened by a simple push you will find inside a bit of history, a
little touch of beauty not to mention a refreshing coolness from the heat of
the Provencal sun but above all, an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
We welcome you to
this house of God. It is your house as well and on behalf of all
the parish, I invite you to share our hospitality.
Father Richard Brunet
Coat of Arms of Jean de
Renaud
« two gules of ten
golden lozenges
side-by-side, posed 4, 4 and 2 »
Chapel of
Jean de Renaud
A place to meet and be
welcomed
Historical summary
This
monument was built as the funeral chapel of Jean de Renaud
d’Alleins, a member of a distinguished provencal family of
which a junior branch settled in Saint Rémy in the 15th
century.
Reference to Jean
de Renaud as a ‘bonhomme’
was made by Brantôme in his work « Vies des hommes
illustres et grand capitaines
francais » in which he describes him as a
knight, nobleman of the house of King
François I, commander of the Tour Saint Jean de Marseille, who was rewarded by
the Granville administration in 1545 with a position as commissioner general of
fortifications. In this capacity he participated in the protection of the town of
Following his
death, his body was brought to Saint-Rémy to be
buried in his chapel.
Little is known
concerning the actual construction of this monument excepting an entry in the
records of the notary Rémy
Architecture
At the foot of the XIVth century bell tower may be seen the only evidence of
the flamboyant gothic style of the original church which collapsed during the
night of 29-30 august, 1818. It was rebuilt in its present form from the plans
of the architect Michel Penchaud in the period 1825
to 1826 and consecrated in 1827.
The chapel of Jean
de Renaud is impressive mainly due to its high, 9.5 m ., vaulted ceiling. The technique used to create the
ceiling is a fairly rare example of multi-ribbed vaulting known as ‘liernes’
and ‘tiercerons’. The main ribs or ogives follow the diagonals of the quadrilateral thus
creating four separate segments. To reduce the size of the segments and to add
stability, additional ribs are added. The liernes form a cross centered at the intersection of the ogives
and instead of passing
directly to the walls, separate into tiercerons for a
better distribution of the ceiling weight. As the building is assymetrical all of these supporting ribs have different
lengths and no segment is identical to
which was created in 1695 when the chapel became the sacristy of the
church. The arch which is now walled up but clearly visible was the original entrance to the
chapel from the old church.
In the corner of
the wall opposite the entrance is a pretty lavabo, or washbasin, in carved
stone, dating from the 17th. century, in the style of a font of Notre Dame de Piété with pedestal for a water jug.
Inscriptions – wall
decorations
The Latin epitaph
to Jean de Renaud is engraved on a marble shield on
the wall above the entrance and may be roughly translated as follows :
‘’For the noble Jean de Renaud,
dearest brother who during his entire life was loved and in turn who loved others in a selfless and enduring
way, the noble Pierre de Renaud, seigneur
of Saint-Tropez to whom he ceded furthermore part of the domains of Antibes, Cagnes and Loubert, has made this
monument.He lived for 60 years, well-off, his virtues acknowledged and rewarded by the christian kings François I and Henri II .
He died on
The frieze or
‘widow’s belt’ running along the wall again depicts the family coat of
arms and helmet . The latin inscription above reads :
‘’the Lord keepeth all their
bones, not one of them shall be broken.’’
Stained glass window
On
the stained glass windows the same family helmet as on the frieze is
reproduced.
Plan (bell tower and chapel)
1/ liernes 2/ tiercerons 3/ ogives