Church of Notre-Dame

The new glass building has a remarkable architectural asset: it is a link between the Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance styles. This transition from one style to the other is very visible on the south façade. This one also has a rarity: a beautiful pulpit to preach outside where the preachers of the Counter-Reformation could unleash themselves against the Huguenots... installed in the building opposite, across the street!

About this building

The church of Notre-Dame was founded around 1060 by Robert I of Vitré and donated in 1116 to the Abbey of Saint-Melaine in Rennes. It was almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries: only the choir remains of the old church, whose windows were modified in the 15th century. The southern façade, built in two campaigns (1480-1500 and 1530-1540) has seven gables separated by pinnacle buttresses. It is adorned with a beautiful pulpit for preaching. The west façade dates from the 1580s, its door has kept its original leaves, dated 1586. The collateral and the north crosspiece were rebuilt in 1467. The spire of the central tower (1420-1442) was rebuilt in stone in 1858.

Key Features

  • Architecture
  • Monuments
  • Interior features

Visitors information

  • Parking within 250m
  • Café within 500m

Other nearby buildings

Jacques Franchet

Church of Saint-Martin

The architect of the building was a Benedictine monk, Dom Jules Mellet, associated with his brother, Henri. Both his names can be found in the design of the pulpit and the capitals. The church of Saint-Martin surprises by its size and the width of its nave. It has some very beautiful neo-Romanesque capitals and a large pulpit for preaching, in the style of 19th century creations. The church remains to this day the most important neo-Romanesque building in Ille-et-Vilaine. This church also has large organs and choir organs.

Sauvegarde de l'Art Français

Chapel Sainte-Anne de la Chevalerie

The Sainte-Anne de la Chevalerie chapel is located in Livré-sur-Changeon, in Brittany. It dates from the seventeenth century and was founded by Jeanne du Feu, lady of the Knights. Originally, it was the chapel of the Manor of La Chevalerie; it became "frairienne" as early as the 18th century. In 1878, the building was remodeled in Gothic Revival style: a bell tower was added and the choir was modified to introduce a skylight.

Eric Blanchais

Church of Saint-Léonard

Founded in the 12th century, rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries, the church was disoriented and enlarged in the 19th century and equipped with a portal and a rose window six metres in diameter in flamboyant gothic style. Outside, the building conceals many curiosities, notably on the north façade with its balusters and its curious gargoyles. The south chapel houses the oldest stained glass window (12th century) in Brittany, which comes from the abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris and the Assumption a painting by Achille Dévéria from 1835. The north chapel holds a painting by Eugène Dévéria (19th century). The church tower can be visited during the high season.