Chapelle St-Jean de Laroque

About

The chapel Saint-Jean de Laroque is a religious building located in the heart of the medieval village of Laroque in the French department of Hérault and the Occitanie region.

Owned by the lords of the place, the chapel, backed by the dungeon of the medieval castle and placed under the name of Saint John (Sancti Johannis de Roca in Latin), was an integral part of the old castrum. Originally intended for private use, it was finally given in 1155 to the Bishop of Maguelone so that the village, which had previously been part of the nearby parish of Ganges, could be set up as an independent parish. The chapel remains parish church only a short time. Small, it quickly becomes too small for a growing population. At the end of the 12th century, a new church, larger, built outside the fortifications on the edge of the Hérault and placed under the name of Sainte Marie-Madeleine, was substituted for it. The chapel, protected by the enclosure of the old castrum, will only become a parish church again during troubled times. It will be enlarged on the courtyard of the castle in the 14th century to accommodate the entire population. At the...