Chapelle des Templiers de Laon

Laon

It was at Laon, in 1128, that the Templars established one of their first foundations in France, with the support of Barthélemy de Jur and the approval of Pope Honorius II. The chapel they built there around 1140 adopts an octagonal plan whose central choir was intended as a symbolic replica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, just as the Templars elsewhere in Europe reproduced the architecture of the holiest place in Christendom. Inside, the carved corbels of the narthex, the original paving and the altar of the choir have come down through the centuries, alongside two 13th-century statues of prophets that most probably came from the neighbouring cathedral. After the dissolution of the Order in 1312, the chapel passed to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, then met a more unexpected fate: when the tower of Louis d'Outremer was no longer enough to hold the town's prisoners, it served for a time as a prison under the Revolution. Studied and drawn by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, it was listed as a historic monument as early as 1846. Closed for many years, the chapel reopened in spring 2025 after a restoration lasting more than two years, and can now be visited free of charge in the courtyard of the Musée du Pays de Laon, alongside the town's collections of art and archaeology.

Getting there : 32 rue Georges Ermant, 02000 Laon, in the courtyard of the museum of art and archaeology

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound