Historic site and monument
at La Chaise-Dieu

Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon-Rencontre

Small chapel which has on the high altar, a seated Virgin holding the Child Jesus on her knees. Notre-Dame de Bon Rencontre watches over travellers. It was furnished with furniture from the old parish church destroyed during the Revolution.
The first parish church was called Notre Dame de Layre. We still have the statue that was in this church: Notre-Dame des Anges.

In Benaud, at the exit of the town on the road which led to Ambert, there was a large cross with a pedestal in the form of a niche. There was a statue of the Virgin seated holding her child Jesus on her knees. It was Notre-Dame de Bon-Rencontre. Traces of his veneration date back to 1599.

During the Revolution, a former sailor, converted into a baker, took the statue to hide it at home and hid it in his mess and then in his cellar in order to spare it from the searches of the revolutionaries.

In 1801, the statue returned to its place under the cross. The parish church having been destroyed, the parishioners undertook the construction of a chapel to the Virgin. It was at this time that the cross of Benaud was transported to the cemetery and the statue of Notre-Dame de Bon-Rencontre was found in the chapel.

However, current studies prove to us that the statue which is today in the chapel is not the primitive one. The current statue is often seen as a late copy of Notre-Dame des Chazes, which seems likely given that the monasteries of La Chaise-Dieu and that of Chazes are both of Benedictine origin.
This statue would represent Our Lady of Good Help, wrongly called Our Lady of Good Meeting, and with its modern lines has nothing of the Romanesque virgins of our mountains. We would conclude that she was replaced by an older Virgin...


Today, the Notre-Dame de Bon-Rencontre chapel remains very active throughout the year: the rosary is recited there on many solemnities of the Virgin Mary and during the months of the rosary and of Mary. We owe this activity to the presence of the brothers of Saint-Jean at La Chaise Dieu.
We speak French

Themes:

  • Religious Heritage
  • Chapel

Location details

  • Village center
  • Lake or body of water at -5 km
  • River at -5 km

Visit

Individual visit services

  • Unguided individual tours permanently

Opening

Opening hours from January 01 to December 31, 2024
MondayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
TuesdayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
WednesdayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
ThursdayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
FridayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
SaturdayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
SundayOpen from 09 a.m. to 18 p.m.
Schedules modified according to the seasons

Admission fees

Free

Services

Equipments

  • Parking nearby

Home animals

NOT_ACCEPTED

Adapted tourism

Adapted service: Not wheelchair accessible

Linked offers

On the spot…

Address

Quartier Benaud
43160 La Chaise-Dieu
How do I get there?

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