This place, dedicated to worship, gathered many faithful, especially during long night processions organized by the white penitents, a rich and powerful confraternity from Mougins.
Until the 1970s, the garden of the Chapel was the setting for grand celebrations and processions celebrating Saint Innocence, the village’s patron. Even today, masses gather, in great fervor, the people of Mougins, Le Cannet, and Grasse.
The subscription launched by the municipality met with great success. It became the largest subscription since the delegation of the Alpes-Maritimes Heritage Foundation was established in 2007. 15% of the patrons from the Alpes-Maritimes focused on this project.
The Chapel of Notre-Dame de Vie is listed on the supplementary inventory of historical monuments in 1927; the priory and its surroundings have been classified as historical monuments since 1938. It embodies all the aesthetic characteristics of 17th-century religious monuments and evokes, with its exterior layout framed by cypress trees, Tuscan landscapes.
The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Vie was built in the style of countryside chapels found in Alpes-Maritimes, with a rectangular plan, a single nave, a double-pitched roof, and a flat chevet.
The bell tower, covered with typical Lombard bands of the second Romanesque art, is the oldest part, erected in the 13th century.
The priory or hermitage is believed to have been built in 1613 to house a chaplain or pilgrims.
As for the chapel, it was rebuilt from 1655 to 1656, the old one having fallen into ruin. Since then, it has retained its original layout, although a few restoration operations have taken place (bell tower, roof, portions of the facade).
The current state required an intervention for an identical restoration and the interior and exterior rehabilitation of the buildings as well as the green spaces and surroundings.
The total cost* of these works exceeding 1 million euros, a call was made for private participation in this operation: the result is flattering with a revenue of
€247,462, representing 23% of the project.
The inauguration of the renovation works will take place this Sunday, June 30.
Could this be described as a happy and innovative initiative?
