Saint Jean-Marie de Vianney Church

Description

Located in the small village of La Grave de Peille, Saint Jean-Marie de Vianney Church stands next to the cement plant.

In 1926, on the plateau with its olive trees overlooking the l’Escarène road, a church was erected and dedicated to Saint Jean-Marie de Vianney, the parish priest of Ars, canonised the year before.
It was made of cement with the help of Father Bonaventure FABRON, herbalist priest of Peille who later went on to live as a recluse. Its preparation “Fabronine” based on 22 plants will make its reputation of the time and thanks to the sale of this one, the canon will finance, with the support of the Vicat cement factory, the construction of the church of Grave of Peille in 1925.
It includes a porch, a façade with a door and windows on either side of it, an œil-de-bœuf window in the top part of the façade, and a separate bell turret erected next to the chapel in its natural surroundings.

The inauguration ceremony of the church was held on the 19th of December 1926, followed by a second inauguration held on the 11th of October 1934 after the addition of the presbytery and the bell turret, and for the baptism of the first bell. Four years later, the belltower was complete: it was therefore necessary to bless and baptise a second bell. This ceremony was held on the Thursday 1st of November 1938.

In 2018, the interior of the church was restored: the roof was sealed, paintings were restored and renovated, stained-glass windows were repaired, the floors were sanded, the electrical system was made compliant, and the presbytery windows were replaced.