Finding your way around the chapel
First dated visual baseline
1965 — A newly restored chapel
Notre-Dame-des-Anges is a funerary chapel owned by the municipality of Rochemaure. It has been protected as a historic monument since 27 October 1971.[1]
The file concerns the Saint-Jean-Baptiste side chapel, which is distinct from Sainte-Anne, the chapel associated with the Jovyac family. The tomb west of the choir is a separate location: evidence concerning one must not be used as evidence concerning the other.
Report dated 7 November 1965
What the archive records
The restoration report preserved under AD07 reference 71 J 42 states that the lauze floor was relaid, the graves were cleaned and the funerary slabs put back in place. It also records the presence of television crews during the ceremony.[3]
Visual finding
What the image shows
The INA image establishes that in 1965 there was no floor slab at this location.
Reading file AD07 2138 W 17
1987 — What the administration actually wrote
The surviving correspondence traces two successive requests and several opinions. It records a refusal, followed by a strictly conditional possibility.
A first request predating the letter of 20 January 1987 is mentioned in later records. The request itself has not been found.
E. Düring, Architecte des Bâtiments de France, forwards the request and four photographs to the curator. He records reservations, prefers a like-for-like restoration that is visibly dated, and opposes moving the large cross.
Dominique Dupraz gives a detailed assessment of the proposed works.
The municipality informs the applicant that the request is refused.
The municipality’s letter of 30 April refers to a new request dated 15 April 1987.
The municipality forwards it to the Architecte des Bâtiments de France « pour approbation » (“for approval”). This forwarding formula describes the purpose, not the outcome, of the referral.
E. Düring issues the written opinion reproduced below.
He then discusses a facsimile only « s’il est exact » (“if it is true”) that the stone being replaced was not the original one and that the original had been destroyed long before.
The municipality transmits the opinion to the applicant and states that it would like the work completed before guided visits. This letter of transmission does not grant authorisation.
Original French, heritage architect’s opinion, 6 May 1987: « J’émets un avis tout-à-fait défavorable aux travaux envisagés. »
English translation: “I express an entirely unfavourable opinion on the proposed works.”
Photographic observation
Today — Three features, three histories to establish
The present-day existence of these features is observable. Their precise dates, maker, commissioner and administrative status must be established separately.
A separate record · French National Archives 273AP/37
The old plan and its documented alterations
Physical examination identified four openings cut into the original plan, later backed with thick paper and completed in a different ink. The added wording includes « Chapelle de Mr Cheynet de Beaupré ».[6]
The alteration is established. Its author and exact date are not. It must therefore be examined as a file separate from the 1987 administrative procedure.
Correspondence held by the association
Olivier Faure informed on several occasions
Mayor concerned by these approaches
Olivier Faure
Mayor of Rochemaure and recipient of the approaches set out below. The municipality’s official website publishes his editorials under the signature “The Mayor, Olivier Faure”.[8]
View the municipality’s official presentation of the mayor
A photograph of Olivier Faure in his office was published by Le Dauphiné libéré. To respect the newspaper’s and photographer’s rights, it is not reproduced here: view the portrait in the original article (photograph by Walid Memdouhi / Le Dauphiné libéré).
Since the meeting of 7 May 2021, the association has contacted Olivier Faure several times about the condition of Notre-Dame-des-Anges and the disputed features installed there. The dates below come from emails and letters held by the association.[7]
Meeting with the mayor. The association is received in Rochemaure. According to the account recalled in later correspondence, Olivier Faure states that the municipality will act regarding Notre-Dame-des-Anges.
First detailed email. The association reports the chapel’s condition, the features added inside it and the exterior tomb. It asks what restoration measures are planned and what action followed the alterations identified in the municipal archives.
First reminder. The association notes that its questions remain unanswered, recalls the undertaking described after the 2021 meeting and asks why there has been no response.
Second reminder. The same questions are again sent to the municipality. No reply is received.
Further reminder. The association recalls that the mayor had said he would take the necessary action and asks what has been done to restore the chapel. The message receives no reply.
Formal demand for a response. After several years of silence, a letter requests a complete response within fifteen days on restoring the chapel, removing the disputed features and acting on the alterations. No reply is received.
Further reminder to the mayor. The association recalls that since August 2022 it has received neither a substantive reply nor even an acknowledgement, and that no concrete action has been reported to it.
Case follow-up
Documentary research
Current research status. File AD07 2138 W 17 has been examined. The remaining priorities are the four photographs transmitted in January 1987, the initial request and its attachments, and any implementation record: drawing, estimate, invoice, contractor, installation date or inspection report.
Sources and references
- French Ministry of Culture, Mérimée record PA00116756, “Chapelle Notre-Dame-des-Anges”: municipal ownership, funerary chapel, protected since 27 October 1971.
- INA, L’église romane Notre-Dame des Anges de Rochemaure, Provence Actualités, ORTF, 17 November 1965, reference RAF02023107; sequence at approximately 7:11:56 p.m.; technical reference MGRAF-MA651117B0101.01_EXP_000037_000203_P3. Frame viewed at the Inathèque in Lyon on 21 August 2026. © Archive INA - L'église romane Notre-Dame des Anges de Rochemaure, Provence Actualités ORTF 17/11/1965.
- Ardèche Departmental Archives, reference 71 J 42, report dated 7 November 1965 concerning the restoration of Notre-Dame-des-Anges.
- Ardèche Departmental Archives, file 2138 W 17, correspondence dated 20 January, 12 and 19 February, 6 and 26 May 1987.
- Municipality of Rochemaure, letters dated 30 April and 2 June 1987 concerning the request of 15 April and the opinions of the Architecte des Bâtiments de France.
- French National Archives, Rohan-Bouillon papers, reference 273AP/37; letter dated 7 September 2018 concerning the alterations found on the plan.
- Correspondence held by the association with the municipality of Rochemaure: meeting of 7 May 2021 recalled in later exchanges; emails dated 14 August, 1 September and 1 October 2022, 28 January 2024 and 1 March 2026; formal demand letter dated 22 March 2025.
- Municipality of Rochemaure, « Le mot du maire », editorial signed « Le Maire, Olivier Faure »; Le Dauphiné libéré, portrait of Olivier Faure in his office, 25 June 2023, photograph by Walid Memdouhi.