Laverdines, located five kilometers north of Nérondes, was built with stones and bricks manufactured on site during the second half of the 19th century. Surrounded by a pond and a park, this Louis XIII-style building was fully restored in the 1990s and now belongs to a private Spanish company. Since the late 1870s, Laverdines has had a chapel that became a church after being purchased by the municipality for a symbolic franc. The story of this edifice, which dominates the landscape, is quite unique. In 1870, when the Prussians were invading France, the owner of the château and Laverdines’ lands promised to erect a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary (to replace the church destroyed at the end of the 18th century) if the enemies did not reach the commune. Five years later, a chapel was built outside the château’s perimeter to serve as a parish church. At the top, a statue, a replica of Our Lady of Fourvière, was erected. However, during a storm, the statue fell from the roof, and the municipality eventually decided to place it in a nearby prayer area.

Thank you to Jean Claude Truffet for this text.