In the middle of the Place Ziem in Beaune, Burgundy, France
stands the Chapel of Saint Etienne.
This 17th-century chapel was a part of the Carmelite community’s buildings in Beaune from 1620 to 1792. Originally, a church and an enclosure were used as a cemetery on this site since the 3rd century. In the 11th century, Viscount Eudes established a Benedictine community there.
During the French Revolution, the buildings were used as a prison and a police station.
The chapel, which was called "de l'Enfant Jésus", presents a characteristic style between classical and baroque architecture, relatively austere with the ground level decorated with pilaster overlaid with bandsof carved stone..
On the second level there are two niches that housed sculptures of saints until they were removed at the Revolution, and a central window in baroque style surmounted by a cartouche held by two angels. On the upper level, another niche probably contained a statue of the Virgin.
Inside, the chapel's elevation has disappeared over time, constructed on one central bay with straight pillars and two bays with Gothic cross-arches, the last remaining evidence of the Benedictine chapel of the Middle Ages. At the back, there are the remains of an altarpiece carved into the wall.
In 1658, King Louis XIV came to pray in this chapel during his visit to Beaune. Infact, a miraculous event linked him to this chapel, the story of the Blessed « Marguerite du Saint-Sacrement ».
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