Église Saint-Louis de Saintes

About

The chapel Saint-Louis is a former Catholic church in the town of Saintes, in the department of Charente-Maritime. Built in the second half of the 19th century, it long served as a chapel in the centre-hospital of the city.

History: The chapel stands on a rocky pile called "Capitol" named after a medieval fortress that has now disappeared. Falling into disuse at the end of the religious wars, the latter was replaced by a more modern citadel in 1609 at the initiative of the governor of the city, Louis de Pernes. This stronghold did not remain for long: a few years later, Cardinal de Richelieu ordered the dismantling of his fortifications in order to prevent it from being misused by revolted Protestants. Unique testimony of the ancient citadel, the governor's house is a longitudinal building body with a slate roof. The latter was converted into a hospital in the second half of the seventeenth century. In 1876, the management of the hospital Saint-Louis entrusted the architect Eustase Rullier with the construction of a chapel. This one designs a neo-Gothic building whose peculiarity is that it...