Neglected

This is the churchyard next to the tiny chapel in St Martin des Puits (official population 22, and I think that may be an exaggeration).

When we first visited this chapel in 1997, the door swung idly open, so visitors could just wander in and look at the rapidly deteriorating medieval frescoes. Birds built nests in it, vandals scrawled graffiti on the walls, the rain blew in and caused further damage ... no-one seemed to care about this little chapel. A few years ago, some concerned visitors went to the trouble of setting up an association and applying for grants; in 2010 they managed to get it listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of the 100 most threatened monuments, and got funding to restore it.

Last September they were awarded a prize for their work, but they were unable to show the chapel to the press because it is owned by the commune, and the mayor refused to give them the key. Sigh. Village politics. No doubt the frescoes are in better condition now, but the door is firmly locked. So instead of a photo of the frescoes, you get the long grass and crumbling stones in the graveyard. No-one's put flowers on these graves for a long time.