Description
Organised by the Sainte Noyale chapel association on the occasion of the 2026 European Heritage Days.
The association opens the chapel doors for self-guided visits all day from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. No document provides any real details about the origin of this chapel. However, certain elements have allowed us to attempt to reconstruct its history. The shaft of the cross located near the chapel is adorned with a shield, vair of gold and sable, representing the coat of arms of the Châteaudérec family, who resided in the manor of the same name, located east of the village of Lesnoyal. This family certainly existed in 1566, coinciding with the sale of the manor. This suggests that a chapel existed at that time, as this cross would have had little reason to stand alone. It is therefore probably to this lordship of Châteaudérec, which held low, middle, and high justice, that the construction of this chapel should be attributed. Engraved on one of the stones of the chapel's south facade, there is also a rather difficult-to-decipher inscription: "Faict en MDCC," meaning "Made in 17…". This could indicate a new construction to replace the original chapel, or a significant restoration of the building in the 18th century. The date 1833 appears on a stone in the sacristy's gable. This corresponds to the year the sacristy was built.