Strolling through the medieval alleys of Saint-Ambroix, one reaches the Plateau du Dugas, a place of worship since antiquity and its mysterious "sacrificial altar".
On the opposite side, a 19th century chapel, located on a huge rocky outcrop. The Dugas chapel, whose construction was the work of M. l'Abbé Salignon, parish priest from 1857 to 1869.
At that time, on the site of the future chapel, there was only a land of mulberry trees, the seigniorial castle having been razed to the ground and the fortifications dismantled by order of Louis XIII in 1629.
The Abbot Salignon then wanted to revive the former patronage of the Virgin Mary under the title of Mary Immaculate. In 1867, he bought the ruins of the Dugas and built, thanks to donations, a chapel that looked like a fortress.
This Romanesque style chapel is crenellated on all sides with a large tower and four turrets. The large tower carries at the top a statue of the Virgin inaugurated by Monsignor Plantier on October 19, 1868.
The Dugas plateau also hosts a square tower, probably a vestige of the first church destroyed in 1560, at the beginning of Protestantism. This tower bears the bell of the old temple, broken by the Protestants and rebuilt by the bishop at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Saint-Ambroix Tourist Office
Old Temple Square
30500 Saint-Ambroix
Tel : 04.66.24.33.36
http://www.ot-saintambroix.fr
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