La Chapelle Saint-Bernardin

I've written about the dance school, the beach, the bakeries and the chocolate shop all so close by, but there is a historical building that is literally a stone's throw away that I would love to show you.  It is Antibes' Chapelle Saint-Bernadin.

La Chapelle Saint-Bernardin and its two orange trees

This chapel was built to commemorate Saint Bernardin, who in the early 15th century was a priest and great orator from Sienna, Italy and delivered sermons throughout Italy for over 25 years.  He was also known for creating the monogram "IHS", the first three letters of Jesus' name in Greek, which was commonly found painted on buildings and churches of Italian towns during this time.

 Like many historical buildings in Antibes, the chapel was built on Roman ruins, in either 1513 or 1581, depending on which local historian's opinion you choose.

In September, we went on a French walking tour of our vieille ville neighbourhood, which included a visit to this chapel.  As we approached, our guide had us all look up to the carvings on either side of the door as a clue to which group had funded its construction.  All the other participants were from France and right away piped up with the word "les pénitents", which then led to colour words:  "noir, bleu, blanc gris..".  I have to admit, I was really feeling out of the loop as to what this all meant.

Carving of a member of the White Penitent Brotherhood which funded the building of this chapel.

It was only after some post-tour reading that I caught up to speed.  Christian Penitent Brotherhoods were religious organizations that were flourishing in the South of France in the 16th century, and were classified according to the colour of their cloaks and hoods and each had a particular combination of charitable activities to which they devoted themselves.  For instance, the White Penitent Brotherhood that built St. Bernardin's Chapel were to take care of the sick, bury the dead, and provide dowries for young woman from poor families.

Fire destroyed much of the interior in the 1970's, however in 2007 it was totally restored.  Sitting in it now with its lovely colours and paintings, it is hard to imagine the shambled state it was in until recently.

A statue of Saint Bernardin.  Beyond the baroque styled column, you can make out some of the faded, yet original, frescoes from the 16th century.

In the chapel's crypt there are images of the original 16th century frescoes and several original paintings by Antoine Aundi.

"Notre Dame des Anges":  Antoine Aundi 1513

The medieval town of Antibes found in the bottom left-hand corner

"La Deposition du Christ":  Antoine Aundi  1539, again showing the medieval town of Antibes in the background

As charmed as I am with many of the characteristics of this small chapel, in my opinion, "la cerise sur le gâteau" is found as you approach it from the the little lane parallel to our street.

 

In 1581, some extremely relieved citizens of Antibes who survived the plague that had ravaged Provence in the previous year, had these solid walnut doors constructed to show their gratitude. 

The door with its date and Bernardin's "IHS" insignia clearly written.

Each year in September, the city of Antibes hosts the festival d'art sacré, and I was pretty excited to learn that one of its music venues is Saint Bernardin's chapel.  The girls had no worries with us heading out for a night concert featuring a a collection of Bach music, considering we would be mere steps away.

The only sobering part of the evening was that every single male, regardless of age, had to be patted down before entering the concert and there was a very serious police presence on the street afterwards.  Yes, France has changed in some ways since the last time we lived here.

However, this did not detract from how lucky I felt to be listening to such beautiful music in this pretty little chapel.  My favourite musical selection was the "suite no1 en sol majeur BMW 1007 for the violoncello" performed by Eric Courreges.  To give you a taste of his talent, you can listen to him play the prelude here.  I might add that he plays a German violoncello made in 1770!

Concert night

If you ever find yourself in Antibes, la chapelle Saint-Bernardin is worth a peek.