Chapelle monolithe Saint-Georges de Gurat

About

The underground monolithic church of Gurat, called chapel Saint-Georges, is an ancient chapel dug in a cliff located in Gurat, Charente department. Being among the monolithic churches of France, it was first registered as a historical monument on 30 October 1963, and then ranked on 5 May 2015.

Location: It is located at the edge of the town centre, in the Lizonne valley. It is dug in the rocky wall facing the east, overlooking the canal des Moulins, arm of the Ronsenac which is a tributary of the Lizonne. It is reached by a road passing below the cliff or a parallel path built 200 m long, from the road of Vendoire.

History: Initially what was a natural cave was enlarged by the hand of man to make it a rock sanctuary. No writing mentions this place before the 18th century, hence the difficulty of tracing its history. Indeed, his first mention dates from a survey of 1747 mentioning "the rocks of Saint-Georges". This monolithic church was probably a shelter for the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela, Gurat being located...