Ermitage Sainte-Catherine de Cambes

Cambes

A cave hollowed out of the cliff, Renaissance frescoes and an entrance that can no longer be crossed. The hermitage of Sainte-Catherine at Cambes is discovered above all through its history. In 1523, Jacques Peyron, lord of Foulhoux and canon of the diocese of Saintes, acquired a plot of land there and founded the hermitage, with a daily mass. In 1536 he bequeathed the whole to the abbot of Sainte-Croix of Bordeaux, then left for the island of Cordouan. The chapel is cut into a natural cave, and the style of its frescoes dates them to 1525-1535. The most remarkable, in the apse, shows God the Father in a mandorla, surrounded by the evangelists. Dom Charles Martin is the last known hermit, in 1645. In spring 1770, services were still held there after a flood of the Garonne, but an episcopal visit soon ordered its closure. A collapse sealed the chapel in 1815; it was rediscovered in 1870, while digging a cellar. Its painted walls have been inscribed as Historic Monuments since 21 November 1973.

French Ministry of Culture — Mérimée PA00083504 ↗

Getting there: Private property; access to the chapel is blocked because the site is unstable (rockfalls). It cannot be visited: do not go there. The frescoes can be discovered in the Mérimée record and in the study by V. Perromat.

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

Ambient sound