Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (Étretat)

Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, 2011

West gable, 2017

Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (right) on the Falaise d'Amont

Previous building, 1869

Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde is a chapel in Etretat in the French department of Seine-Maritime in Normandy .

location

It is visible from afar on the Alabaster Coast on the English Channel , only about 50 meters from the cliff, northeast above Étretat on the Falaise d'Amont . To the east stands the Nungesser and Coli memorial , which is reminiscent of aviation pioneers .

Architecture and history

The construction of a Catholic chapel at this point was initiated by Pastor Père Michel in 1854 and also served as a tribute to the sailors who stayed at sea. The financing came with the help of the emerging tourism and the first tourists. The chapel dedicated to sailors and fishermen was consecrated on August 6, 1856.

During the Second World War , the chapel was destroyed by German occupation troops in 1942, but after the end of the war it was rebuilt in a new form in the neo-Gothic style by the architect Arthur Giraudet and the entrepreneur Lanfry from Rouen . The consecration of the new building took place on August 22, 1950 by Archbishop Joseph-Marie Martin . Since then the chapel has been consecrated to the Blessed Virgin . The auxiliary bishop of Rouen Daniel-Auguste Lemonnier blessed the interior.

The slender church tower towers over the portal in the west gable. The portal is closed with a gate. The facade is made of natural stone, while the slate roof is reminiscent of an inverted ship's hull. Gargoyles designed as fish heads are used as decoration . The stained glass windows date from 1964 and were made in the Degusseau workshop.

The chapel is now privately owned and is rarely open to the public.

literature

• Françoise Foucher, Étretat , Éditions d'Art Jack, Louannec, June 2018, ISBN 978-2-37773-037-7 , page 14 f.

Web links

Commons : Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Notre-Dame de la Garde chapel on etretat.net
• chapelle des marins on patrimoine-maritime-normand.org (french)
• Chapelle Notre Dame de la Garde d'Etretat on www.lehavre.catholique.fr (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ chapelle des marins on patrimoine-maritime-normand.org (French)

Coordinates: 49 ° 42 ′ 39.9 ″  N , 0 ° 12 ′ 19.9 ″  E