the church of Saint John the Apostle of Régnié-Durette selected in the Rhône

The church, located about an hour north of Lyon, is one of the 100 monuments selected for this new edition of the Heritage Lottery.

The 100 new winners selected for the new edition of the Heritage Lottery were revealed this Monday, September 2 by the Heritage Mission for the preservation of heritage in danger as well as the Ministry of Culture. In the Rhône, the Saint Jean Apôtre church in Régnié-Durette was selected.

“They will benefit from the financial support of the seventh edition of the Mission Patrimoine games offer which is launched today. The amount of the endowment for each site will be announced at the end of the year,” indicates the foundation led by Stéphane Bern.

Located in Beaujolais, about sixty kilometers from Lyon, the religious building is looking to give itself a makeover. Built “in the second half of the 19th century”, the church of Régnié-Durette, and in particular its façade, is reminiscent of that of the Fourvière basilica.

The architect of the Fourvière Basilica

And for good reason, the two buildings share one thing in common: Pierre Bossan. The famous architect actually built the two sites, one on the Fourvière hill in the capital of Gaul and the other in the heart of the Beaujolais commune, this time overlooking another hill above the Saône valley.

The project carried out here is to carry out restoration work on the premises, which is necessary due to the appearance of cracks on the interior and exterior of the church. “The west façade is also very damaged by the weather (blackened stone, damaged sculptures, cracks in the surrounding area, etc.),” ​​specifies the Heritage Foundation.

“The commune of Régnié-Durette has always maintained this building well, but it cannot fully finance this major restoration work,” writes the Heritage Mission in its press release.

Thus, since the end of 2022, a call for donations and an “Association for the restoration of the church of Régnié-Durette” have been launched. The work began last year, in 2023, and should gain momentum thanks to the Heritage Lottery.

The latter also allows a spotlight on these emblematic sites in the different French departments and can thus increase donations. At present, 9,365 euros have been collected out of the 50,000 to be reached.

In 2023, the Feyzin fort, south of Lyon, was selected and received a grant of 300,000 euros as part of the Heritage Mission.