Saint-Michel chapel was attached to La Brigue’s hospice, built in 1700, thanks to a gift from the abbot Jacques Spinelli, secretary of state of the Duchy of Savoy, originally from the town.
The chapel’s architecture is related to the Piedmont Baroque style. The elongated octagonal plane is composed of two long opposing sides (two spans) extended by three short faces, allowing the development of an elliptical vault.
The facades of the chapel have two levels separated by cornices and punctuated by pilasters. Arched or triangular pediments surmount the large windows.
The chapel has two entrances, the main one located on the square and the other one located in the courtyard of the old hospice, via the sacristy.
Inside, the stucco decorations of baroque inspiration are chosen and composed with classicism. They draw the low level under a large double cornice. The long faces have niches on the two bays between the pilasters.
The virtuoso painted decorations created in the 19th century give theatricality to the chapel.
The former hospice of La Brigue has become the communal museum of the brigasque patrimony (Musée Communal du Patrimoine Brigasque).