The center-piece of campus is more then 500 years old and has roots deep in the history of medieval Europe.,”

The St. Joan of Arc Chapel, at the heart of Marquette's campus, has a history that extends far beyond Milwaukee.

The chapel is more than 500 years old and has roots deep in the history of medieval Europe.

Originally named Chapelle de St. Martin de Sayssuel, the building was reconstructed on the Marquette campus in 1966. It was previously located in Jericho, New York, a town in Long Island, and before that in a town called Chasse, in southern France's Rhone River Valley.

Joan of Arc, whose estimated lifespan was from 1412 to 1431, is rumored to have said a prayer in the chapel in 1429 and kissed the stone holding a statue of Mary. The stone is now called the Joan of Arc Stone and is located in the chapel.

According to Steven Taylor, associate professor of French, Joan of Arc would not have had the chance physically to go to the chapel. She would have spent her life in northern France, and the chapel was in southern France.

However, "the stone could have come from northern France," Taylor said.

The chapel's journey

After World War I, French architect and archaeologist Jacques Cou