|
|
 |
|
Home | Centuries | The 16th century - Protestants in the arts and letters – Literature in the 16th century | Protestant temples : from the 16th century to the Revocation | La Rochelle (Charente)
|
| La Rochelle (Charente) |
|
| The Temple of Villeneuve |
La Rochelle was prominent protestant city as early as 1530-1540. Protestants first used Catholic churches for their services, sometimes in simultaneum, as was often the case in the early days of the Reformed faith.
|
|
Services of worship before 1568 |
|
The Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Bathélémy churches were used alternatively for services of both confessions. The Saint-Michel hall, built in the 15th century, was attributed to Protestant worship.
|
 In 1568 La Rochelle became the capital city of the Reformed |
|
The Saint-Yon Temple, former refectory of the Augustinian convent, and later the Sainte-Marguerite Chapel (of the Oratorian convent) replaced the Saint-Michel hall which by then was much too small.
|
|
The "Big" Temple (1577-1689) |
|
1577 : the plans of the "Big" Temple were attributed to Philibert Delorme ; its foundation stone was laid by Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, but the actual construction began in 1600.
1603 : Consecration of the edifice, first sermon. It was an work of architectural art - an irregular eight-sided, 49m long, 30m wide and 60m high edifice. The lead-covered roof rested on basket-shaped woodwork with no supporting pillars.
The outside was decorated with pediments over the doors and ribbed pilasters.
1627 : the city, besieged by Richelieu surrendered. The "Big" Temple was handed over to the Catholics. The King wanted to destroy "this stronghold of rebellion and heresy" (cette citadelle de la rébellion et de l'hérésie).
1648 : La Rochelle became an archbishopric and the "Big" Temple a cathedral.
1687 : Most of the edifice was destroyed by a fire.
1689 : Total destruction.
|
|
The temple in Villeneuve |
|
After the siege and the transfer of the "Big" Temple to the Catholics, Louis XIII granted the Protestants a piece of land to build a new place of worship. The construction started in 1630. It was a modest rectangular building with an enclosure, a set of asymmetrical doors and a bell.
18 January 1685 : a decree of the Parliament ordered its demolition.
March 1685 : The temple was demolished. The Tables of the Law and the pulpit were likewise destroyed. The bell was given to the Saint-Bathélémy church. The stones were used to build the Saint-Louis hospital on the same site. The only element of the Temple that survived was the street name, "rue du Prêche" (Sermon street).
|
|
The former church of the Récollets |
|
The former church of the order of the Récollets, summoned by Louis XIII after 1628, was built in 1691 and then confiscated at the time of the Revolution. It was bought back by Ranson, the representative of the heads of city's Protestant families, and consecrated to Reformed worship in 1789.
|
|
| Bibliography |
| Books |
|
COUNEAU, Émile, La Rochelle disparue, Foucher, La Rochelle, 1904 |
|
|
DUBIEF, Henri et POUJOL, Jacques, La France protestante, Histoire et Lieux de mémoire, Max Chaleil éditeur, Montpellier, 1992, rééd. 2006, 450 pages |
|
|
LAURENT, René, Promenade à travers les temples de France, Les Presses du Languedoc, Millau, 1996, 520 pages |
|
|
REYMOND, Bernard, L'architecture religieuse des protestants, Labor et Fides, Genève, 1996 |
|
| Revue |
|
Études théologiques et Religieuses |
|
|
Tome 75, 2000 |
|
|
GUICHARNAUD, Hélène, Approche de l'architecture des Temples protestants construits en France avant la Révocation, pp. 477-504 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© Virtual Museum of French Protestantism
|
|
|
|
|
