Saint Gabriel Chapel at the Foot of the Alpilles

The façade and its sculpted portal

In its lower section, a large arch shelters the doorway, framed by two columns topped with a triangular pediment. Their capitals are decorated with acanthus leaves, while the pediment gathers several sculpted scenes beneath small arcades.

Higher up, the oculus dominates the façade and draws the eye towards the gable.

On the pediment, the Annunciation appears on the left, with Mary and the archangel Gabriel. On the right, Mary and Elizabeth embrace. The figures are set beneath three small arcades that extend the architectural design.

The semicircular tympanum depicts Daniel in the lions’ den. The scene is associated with the archangel Gabriel’s announcement of the coming of the Messiah.

Ernaginum, an ancient crossroads at the foot of the Alpilles

In Roman times, Ernaginum occupied the westernmost foothills of the Alpilles. The site stood at the meeting point of the Domitia, Aurelia and Agrippa roads, on a route linking Avignon, Arles and Aix. The proximity of the Durance and the Rhône also encouraged trade.

The present chapel was built in the last quarter of the 12th century on the site of two earlier buildings. A funerary stele discovered there is preserved in the chapel; it recalls the ancient presence of Ernaginum, a history now concealed in the landscape.

The towers and Castrum Saint-Gabriel

The chapel is part of a larger site. A few hundred metres away, the remains of two defensive towers bear witness to Saint-Gabriel’s strategic role in the Middle Ages. The ruins of Castrum Saint-Gabriel extend this ensemble towards the hills and shed light on its history.

In Saint-Rémy, the Antiques of Glanum offer another testimony to the history of the Alpilles. You can continue the walk in Saint-Rémy’s old town. At the other end of the range, Saint-Sixte Chapel offers another encounter between Romanesque architecture and a rural landscape. The three sites echo one another in their isolation and their place within the relief.

North of Tarascon, in the Montagnette, Boulbon completes the circuit: a village below the ruins of its castle, with its Romanesque chapel of Saint-Marcellin left out in the fields.