Church Notre Dame de la Tronchaye

Classified as a Historic Monument, this building, from the 12th and 16th centuries, has a flamboyant Gothic style facade and a Romanesque bell tower. Village tour map available free of charge at the Tourist Office reception and downloadable online The off-center location of the Collegiate Church is atypical. Indeed, popular tradition tells that in the 10th century, at the time of the Norman (Viking) invasions, a priest hid, in a hollow tree trunk, a wooden statue representing the virgin and her child in order to protect it from pillage. . Two centuries later, a shepherdess would have found this statue in this same trunk; a church was then built there, on the very spot where the statue was found. This story even gave it its name, “Notre-Dame de la Tronchaye”. Indeed, the term “Tronchaye” comes from the word “trunk”. Outside: This beautiful building, made of granite and schist, raises its square tower not far from the only two preserved gates of the city (Porte Cadre and Porte de l'Etang). Over time, it underwent numerous modifications: - The north facade was entirely rebuilt in flamboyant Gothic style in 1533. - A Calvary cross offered by Claude I at the beginning of the 16th century was also erected in the middle of the cemetery. - In the 17th century the vessel was provided with an additional nave to the south. - Other work was carried out in the 19th century but it was not until 1924 that the interior of the church took on its current appearance. Inside: Upon entering, you notice the inclination of the columns. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the Collegiate Church was built without foundations, directly on the rock: schist. Due to this lack of foundation, the Collegiate Church began to follow the movement of the ground; she was sliding south! To stop this movement, the construction of the south aisle was carried out: this construction serves as a buttress. Following this construction, the collegiate church actually stopped sliding, but it began to pivot towards the West! Once again it was necessary to add a buttress to the west of the monument. These movements, and the modifications that followed, took place over the centuries, and therefore over architectural styles. The Collegiate Church is a mixture of Romanesque (bell tower), Gothic (north facade) and Renaissance style. To the right of the choir is a magnificent stained glass window, commissioned in 1927 from a glassmaker from Angers: Mr Roger Desjardin. This stained glass window tells the legend of the shepherdess finding the statue in the hollow tree trunk. The Calvary: It was nicknamed the poor man's Bible. The sculptures, carved from granite, were used by priests to teach the Bible to illiterate people. This Calvary would be the only one in Brittany to represent the Passion and Ascension of Christ. Open all year round, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Easter to the end of September and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the rest of the year. No visit during services. Mass times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday at 9 a.m. Thursday mass + adoration at 6 p.m. Sunday at 11 a.m.

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