The Saint-Nazaire chapel of Roujan, in the Hérault department, 12 km north-west of Pézenas, dates for its oldest parts to the 9th century.
It thus constitutes a testimony of the pre-Romanesque architecture of Visigothic tradition in the old Septimania (current regions of Languedoc and Roussillon). At the time, Septimania depended on the Visigothic kingdoms of Toulouse and Toledo (today in Spain).
The apparently modest chapel would have originally served a hamlet which has now disappeared, Saint-Geniès.
It has a single rectangular nave, extended to the east by a square sanctuary. The nave was originally covered with a frame, then it was fitted with a semi-circular barrel vault (probably in the 17th century). For the rest, the pre-Romanesque building has been preserved as it is, and it belongs to the type of "closed choir" places of worship because the opening of the triumphal arch appears to be narrower compared to the width of the nave.
Certain decorative elements are reminiscent of the rest of the techniques prior to the 9th century. Finally, it should be noted that statues and a listed tabernacle are housed, the chapel itself as a whole having been included in the Inventory in 1981.
This singular testimony of ancient medieval architecture can mark out a walk in the surroundings from the village: the chapel is in fact isolated, surrounded by vineyards, 1.5 km from the small village, near the road leading to Aligne-du-Vent.
Information on +33 4 67 36 67 13.
