Gabre : Protestant temple

The Gabre temple is distinguished by its modesty and simplicity, being in a desert. Gabre has been the site of a commandery of hospital since the 12th century. In addition, Gabre is also known for his glass craftsmen who settled there at the beginning of the 16th century, probably attracted by the availability of wood and sand necessary for their profession. In the middle of the 16th century, when the ideas of the reform propagated in the region, the population of Gabre, including the glassmakers, largely joined these ideas. In 1568, the commanders, local lords, were dispossessed of the tower, and part of the destroyed church was transformed for the new cult. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes led to the disappearance of this place of worship. The gentlemen glassmakers, who lived in a semi-nomadic way in the woods, organized a spiritual resistance by holding clandestine outdoor assemblies. After the edict of tolerance and the revolution, they gradually had to abandon their craft profession in the face of competition from industrial glassware, and their families dispersed in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was estimated that the Protestant population of Gabre had 267 inhabitants out of 520. At that time, two new places of worship were built: a temple in 1803 in the center of the village and another, more distant, in Lastermes in 1804. Throughout the 19th century, the community asked for the help of the authorities for their maintenance. Several residents of Gabre distinguished themselves during the Second World War as just. Since then, the temple has benefited from regular maintenance work.