Château de
Saint-Montan

Built between the 11th and 12th centuries on the site where Saint Rémi, bishop of Reims, would have come to meet the hermit Montanus.

The church is located at the exit of the village, in the direction of Larnas. According to the legend about the location of the second residence of Montanus. It is in his honour that a chapel was built. The current building consists of two distinct parts: a chapel of the 10th century and a Romanesque church of the 12th century. The small chapel has undergone some small modifications (windows, front door) which do not distort the initial construction. It consists of a rectangular vaulted room, followed in the east by an elongated apse.

Besides their picturesque appearance, these places seem to have been frequented very early due to the presence of sources presence of Celtic pottery and remains of iron fireplace.

The most important source, which never runs dry, is called “the Fountain of the Fevers” (Montanus having communicated to him the virtue of curing the fevers); one sees it deaf under the road, at the height of the small dam.

It remained for a long time one of the main water points of the villagers, as evidenced by the path that connects it directly to the castle. The grotto of Lourdes was built in 1905 by the abbot Marqueyrol (former parish priest of St Montan), on the return of a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and until the 1980s, a religious service was held on August 15 followed by a pilgrimage to the cave of the hermit. Some miracles would have occurred there, as evidenced by the ex-voto near the altar.

It is the church of the center of the village, built at the bottom of the old village. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times, rebuilt for three centuries; to such an extent that the early church had lost its artistic interest and was too small. It was demolished in 1856 and rebuilt. The building lacked funds, which explains the unfinished shape of its bell tower which remained flat. It was inaugurated in 1865. Of the primitive church, only the bells remain, an engraved inscription (sealed in San Samonta). Its cemetery was located at the current site of Place du Poussiac.

It is a tower, probably built in the 12th century, which was formerly associated with a building of which there are few traces.

This building housed religious who, like the nobles, had the right to raise pigeons. This tower was built as a dovecote, but it is possible, because of its situation, that it was also used as a refuge in case of difficulties.

To the west of the present village is a wild gorge with the presence of springs: an ideal place for an anachorete or solitary. Legend has it that in the fifth century, a pious person named Montanus withdrew to these places in prayer and contemplation; he would have come from the north of Gaul and predicted the birth of Remi, future bishop of Reims. Still according to legend, Montanus, after having stayed 30 years in this place, would have joined La Fère in Picardy where he died.

The building as it is now was built about 1000 years after the passage of Montanus… to protect a place of pilgrimage and ceremony that was still practiced in the 1980s on August 15.

Owned by the diocese of Viviers, this garden was operated by the priests of Saint-Montan. It borders the hill of the “Grotto of Lourdes” which was still a place of pilgrimage until the 1980s, once a year, on August 15. Owners of churches since 1905, the communes must maintain these buildings which are made available to the cult.

The parish priest’s garden is located on an old site, hidden at the foot of a gorge overlooked by the medieval castle of Saint-Montan in Ardèche. This small garden is sheltered from the prevailing winds; it receives the water of the stream that crosses it and although it looks like a private place, this small green space with aromatic odors is communal and open to the public throughout the year.

It is located on the D262 which connects the RD86 to the village. There is little documentation on the origin of this chapel. Its name indicates an ancient origin in connection with the shrine of the god Mithras, a Roman god whose worship is proven in the area.

It was very common to build buildings related to Christianity on pagan places of worship.

It is a Romanesque building with a single nave, completed in the twelfth century. The plot next to it, lined with cypress trees, is the ancient cemetery. Like all the churches in the area, it suffered the damage of time and wars still visible on the restored building.

It was saved in 1970.

This fountain, whose water comes from a source captured 70m upstream, was for centuries the only fountain whose water was drinkable in the village.

It is fed by the same water table as the “source of fevers” located near the cave of Lourdes.