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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Georges of Saint-Georges-de-la-Couée is part of the history of the ancient villa Sabonarias, a first millennium rural estate located in the Labricin (now Pays de la Loire). This territory, marked by the production of soap from goat tallow and wood, already housed in the fourth century a wooden parish church founded by Saint Liboire, bishop of Le Mans. Although its exact construction remains uncertain (between the 4th and 7th centuries), this early church was destroyed during the Norman and Breton invasions in the late 9th century. The monks of Saint-Calais then built a chapel on its ruins, dedicated to Saint Fraimbault, while a new parish church was erected 4 km north in the present village.

The chapel of Saint-Fraimbault, a carolingian architecture (apse in semi-circle, walls in unseparated stones), became a famous pilgrimage site, especially on 16 August. The faithful took from the dust of the Merovingian sarcophagus attributed to Saint Fraimbault, who was supposed to cure various ills. The nave, collapsed in the 17th century, was rebuilt with limited materials, explaining the difference in height between the choir (X century) and the nave. The stained glass windows, dating from the early twentieth century, and the murals of the 15th-XVIth centuries (Saint Eloi, Saint Peter) enrich its interior.

Ranked a historic monument in 1968, the chapel benefited from major restorations: roof financed in the 19th century by the family of Montesquiou-Fezensac (local teachers), stained glass windows installed in 1921, and chestnut bell tower rebuilt in 2018 thanks to community donations. Its heritage thus reflects almost a thousand years of religious, artisanal and seigneurial history, from the Celts to the modern era.

The site also preserves traces of the Celtic soap industry, at the origin of the toponyme Sabonarias (of sabo, "soap"). The nearby Gabrone valley derives its name from the celte gabras ("goat"), an animal whose tallow was used for manufacturing. These elements illustrate the link between the monument, the old economic activities (vignes, soap factory) and the medieval social organization, where churches and priories structured local life.

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