The chapel of Saint John the Baptist was built in 1650 as a milestone along the Route du Plan, on the initiative of a brotherhood wishing to have its own premises. A small rustic building built by local men, it has the general character of a chapel linked to traffic, although unlike other chapels, the porch is enclosed.
As with the chapel of St Anne further along the same road, it witnessed the troubles that Lorgues suffered: the Austro-Piedmontese invasion of 1746-1747 transformed it into a fodder store; the Revolution sold it as a national asset.
It was handed back to worship in 1816. Very exposed to degradation and theft, it was also the object of care from the ASFVL and the municipality (1978 and1998, just before the widening of the road in 1999).
It is very typical of a neighbourhood chapel, formerly maintained by the priors, and today by the neighbouring winery. The feast of St John the Baptist, 24th June, coincides with the traditions of the summer solstice.
The St Jean of the Summer in Lorgues-en-Provence was described by the poet Marius Trussy:
One meets there the rite of fire always practiced by the dancers of the farandole led by the “lou Ginestoun” Provençal group from Lorgues, and also the rite of water consisting in sprinkling oneself, without forgetting the rite of the earth by collecting the “herbs of St John” (St John’s wort, immortal, mint, sage, thyme…).