Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde

The Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde or Sainte-Radegonde Chapel is an underground structure, a former oratory converted into a chapel, on the slope of the Sainte-Radegonde hill, east of the historic town center of Chinon, in the French department of Indre-et-Loire in the Centre-Val de Loire region. The site has probably been known since antiquity as a well whose waters were reputed to be miraculous; tradition has it that the hermit Jean le Reclus was buried there; the main developments leading to the creation of a proper chapel, however, date back to the 11th or 12th century. The chapel owes its name to Radegonde de Poitiers, who is said to have met Jean on several occasions. The walls are decorated with several murals from different periods and in varying states of preservation; one of them, probably depicting a hunting scene, dates from the end of the 11th century. The precise identity of the figures in this painting is still debated, but it seems likely that they are several members of the House of Plantagenet. The abandoned chapel was sold as bien national during the French Revolution. After being used as a home, along with the adjoining caves, and having had several successive owners, it has belonged to the town of Chinon since 1957. The Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires du Chinonais has been housed here since 1966.