The Holy Trinity Chapel

Discover a jewel of religious heritage nestled in the heart of La Garde-en-Oisans: the Chapelle du Rosay. This monument to spirituality and tranquility is a fascinating example of traditional religious architecture.

Here's its history: founded in 1643 under the patronage of the Holy Trinity, it was built by the local inhabitants. Monseigneur Le Camus visited it in 1672 on his way back from Auris via the Col de Maronne. It was endowed with 30 sols for 3 masses.
The chapel was equipped with a pewter chalice, and the bishop requested that it be fitted with a silver chalice. On a further visit in July 1678, the famous prelate confirmed this foundation, paid for by the inhabitants of the village of Rosai.
The shrine was mentioned again in 1686.
In 1728, Monseigneur de Caulet noted that the chapel was equipped with a chalice, books, linen and the necessary ornaments. At the time, 3 low masses were said.
During his visit in 1757, the bishop specified that the chapel, still dedicated to the Holy Trinity, had been founded by the late Chalvin.
In 1776, the foundation was still 30 sols for a mass, paid for by the village.
At the end of year VI, the chapel at Rouzet was appraised by the government. It was 17 feet long and 14 feet wide. Its 15-foot-high walls were built of stone and earth, "recrépie" with lime and sand, and covered with slate. It was not vaulted, but capped as it is today, demonstrating the permanence of its appearance over the centuries.
The chalice disappeared during the Revolution, but a pious inhabitant of Le Rosai endowed it again under Louis-Philippe.
The chapel was renovated by the commune in 1991. The facades were stripped back to their original gneiss stones, and the beautiful tufa stones of the original bell tower rising above the mountain slate roof were consolidated. The exterior stoup has been preserved. The stone in the left-hand corner of the façade is engraved with the date "1643", the date of the chapel's construction during the Counter-Reformation.

The stained glass window was donated by the former parish priest of Alpe d'Huez, buried in the Saint-Pierre de La Garde cemetery around 1980-90.
The artist: Jean-Marie Pirot, better known as Arcabas, born on December 26, 1926 in Trémery (Moselle), and died on August 23, 2018 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (Isère), was a French painter and sculptor recognized in France and abroad, among other places, for his important production in the field of contemporary sacred art.

Apart from the revolutionary period, the chapel has always been used for worship. Masses, weddings, baptisms and funeral prayers are celebrated here.
The last ceremony took place in August 2024.