In 2022 > Olivier Toulemonde, le FRAC with Matthew McCaslin, Sébastien Thiéry
Pontarlier, a stopover between the abbeys of Saint-Bénigne de Dijon and Saint-Maurice d’Agaune (in Valais Switzerland) was provided quite early with a hospital (it is mentioned as early as 1189) – and a chapel or a church – located in Faubourg Saint-Pierre. Partially destroyed in 1639 during the capture of the city by the Saxe-Weimar Swedes, it was transferred to the Faubourg Saint-Étienne in 1700 according to the plans of the architect Richard. Once again destroyed by the great fire of 1736, it was rebuilt in 1740 according to the plans of the engineer Querret, then enlarged several times.
The chapel is a curious 19th century construction carried out in 1897 to the plans of the architect E. Bérard: a sort of narthex opens onto a single nave extended by an apse choir; the columns of the narthex support a gallery which allowed the sick on the first floor to follow the services; stained glass windows in the choir and the nave illuminate the whole. But it is less the plan of this building which is curious than its decor, inherited from a certain orientalist fashion: columns with cylindrical shafts and decorated capitals, stained glass windows decorated with luxuriant foliage, papyrus, sky vault of the nave starry, choir vault with a Byzantine-inspired Christ… The fairly dark paints covering the walls and columns and limited natural lighting give this chapel a rather dark interior appearance.
GPS : 46,739577 / 6,230343