Starting from the house where Marcel Pagnol was born, a signposted walking route takes you through the streets of Aubagne’s historic centre, exploring the heritage and history of this thousand-year-old town.
Panorama Ville Eglise Tour De L'horloge Aubagne Oti Aubagne
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The chapel of the Pénitents noirs
Aubagne historic centre route
The chapel of the Pénitents noirs
The chapel appears under the name of Saint-Michel in a charter dated 1035. Guillaume II, Lord of Aubagne, confirmed his father’s donation of the building to the abbey of St-Victor. It was located outside the castrum on the summit of the hill, in keeping with the cult of the Archangel Saint Michael, which developed in the West on high sites.
The chapel was gradually abandoned in favour of the church of Saint-Sauveur. In 1551, the commune ceded part of its use to the newly-established Pénitents Noirs brotherhood. In 1564, the brothers obtained a perpetual concession, extended the building on the town side and opened the entrance door onto the Chemin des Aires. From 1627 to 1789, the chapel was enlarged and embellished by the construction in 1784 of its neoclassical façade, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Built of ashlar from the Couronne quarries, it was included in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments in 1927.
The chapel was abandoned following the suppression of the brotherhoods by the law of 1792, but the fervour of the Penitents enabled the brotherhood to be re-established in 1833 and the building to be restored. The bell tower was rebuilt, as was a new black-glazed tile roof, and a gypsum cornice adorned the interior.
From 1850onwards, the slow process of decline of the brotherhood began. The turn of the century marked the definitive end of the Penitents’ activities. During the First World War, the chapel was requisitioned for the billeting of soldiers. Disused in 1920, it remained unused for a long time, and since 2001 this important part of Aubagne’s heritage and history has finally been restored.
