The Corconne chapel

Overlooking La Vaunage, the sea and the Pic-St-Loup, this site offers a magnificent panoramic view.
The chapel was restored as part of the 2012 / 2013 heritage plan.

The first mention of the building dates back to 1188, in the Franquevaux cartulary. It is probably part of a series of fortifications built at the end of the 12th century by the Count of Toulouse and his allies. At the time, Gard was a frontier zone between the possessions of Toulouse and Provence. Corconne belonged to the de Sauve-Anduze family, allied to the Count of Toulouse.

The building took on its religious vocation in 1858, when Corconne's inhabitants transformed the remains into a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in gratitude for sparing the village from the cholera epidemic of 1854. The walls have been partially rebuilt, the vault restored and roofed. A stained-glass window depicting the Virgin Mary is commissioned from the Louis Pagès workshop.

Situated on the route of the Pont du Hasard, it is now a place for hiking and an annual pilgrimage on September 8, the feast of the Virgin's nativity.

Today, the building takes the form of a vaulted room, the chapel, extended by the remains of walls. The chapel opens onto a courtyard enclosed by rough-cut walls. The rusticated stonework is reminiscent of many 12th- and 13th-century buildings, including the Château de Beaucaire, the ramparts of Aigues-Mortes and the nearby Tour de Môle in Sauve.