Editing Chinon (section)

=== Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde ===
[[File:Nef troglodytique et jardin de la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde.JPG|thumb|Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]]
The [[Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]] is half built into the rock face on the eastern outer limits of the town. During Antiquity, a natural underground spring at the back of the actual chapel was a site used for pagan worship. The site was Christianized in the 6th century when Queen [[Radegonde]], later named a Saint, supposedly came to visit the hermit John who lived there. The name of the sanctuary comes from this event.

[[File:Chasse royale, fresque de la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde.JPG|thumb|[[Fresco]] in Sainte-Radegonde chapel]]
Two naves were created, starting in the 12th century. One is carved directly into the rock and the second made adjacent to it at a later date. The chapel conserves some mural paintings, notably the ''Royal Hunt'', made towards the end of the 12th century, the time of the power and residence of the [[Plantagenet]] family in Chinon. The fresco figures 5 riders, two of whom are crowned, and another with a bird of prey on his wrist. It has been presumed that it depicts members of the Plantagenet family in Chinon, the two crowned figures possibly being [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] and [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]], or their son Henry the Younger, crowned during his father's lifetime in 1170. In addition to its subject matter, this painting is of outstanding quality in its execution, its vivacity and the variety of colours.<ref>Cécile Voyer, Les Plantagenêts et la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde de Chinon : une image en débat, in Revue 303, n°81, hors-série 2004 Alienor d'Aquitaine.</ref>

Other paintings, depicting the story of Saint Radegonde and Saint John, were made during the 17th century.

The chapel was deconsecrated following the Revolution and used as dwelling places. In 1878, it was bought and restored as a sanctuary by a benefactress of Chinon, Madame Charre.