Gonod Chapel or the tomb of Thèdes

The tomb of Thèdes is a funeral chapel with an original structure designed for Benoit Gonod and his wife in the 19th century.

At the age of just 23, Benoît Gonod (1792-1849) was appointed Professor of Rhetoric in 1815, at the Collège Royal de Clermont-Ferrand. Very well-read and a great philosopher, he joined the Académie de Clermont-Ferrand in 1824. In 1826 he was appointed librarian of the city by the mayor, Antoine Blatin. In 1832, Gonod collaborated with André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836), the famous physicist whose name is given to a unit of measurement. Gonod invented the first stenotype in 1827, a machine that transcribes speech in phonetic script. He was a collector and built a personal library that enhances Clermont Ferrand’s municipal collections through a donation by his widow in 1850.

Gonod owned a summer residence at Thèdes and had this tomb built for himself and his wife in the middle of the 19th century. The chapel’s circular layout is unique in the region, and is covered by a flagstone dome around which runs a sentry walk boasting a panoramic view of the village, the Circuit de Charade car-racing track and the Limagne plain. The three levels, the crypt, nave and attic, are connected by an interior staircase. The arch of the entrance features the sculpted initials of Benoît Gonod and his wife, as well as the following inscription translated from the Latin: “Quiconque aura prié dans ce lieu, réponds-lui de ta demeure” [Whoever prays in this place, answer him from your dwelling]. And above it, around the rose window: “La bénédiction de Dieu soit sur nous et sur le fruit de la terre” [May the blessing of God be upon us and upon the fruit of the earth]. The nave features an altar and a stained-glass window (1992) dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of the village.

In 1943, Pauline de Varenne, the heir, donated the chapel to the diocese of Clermont-Ferrand. In 1983, Monseigneur Dardel passed it on to the municipality, which renovated it.