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Origin and history

The Basilica Notre-Dame-de-l'Assumption of La Guerche-de-Bretagne, located in the old town closed by the same name, is a Gothic building of the thirteenth, fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, restored and enlarged in the nineteenth century. Local pilgrimage sanctuary, it depends on the Archdiocese of Rennes. Its history dates back to the 10th century with attested Marian devotion, although the present statue of the Virgin, hollow and polychrome, dates from the 17th century. This statue, carved from a tree trunk, was crowned in 1937 by the Archbishop of Rennes, Bishop René-Pierre Mignen, under the chairmanship of Cardinal Suhard.

The first written mention of a chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame at La Guerche dates back to 1152, but a cult building probably existed as early as the 10th century. The local lords donated it to Saint-Melaine Abbey in Rennes before Guillaume II founded a collegiate college in 1206. The parish of La Guerche was officially established only during the French Revolution, its territory formerly dependent on Ran. The church became a minor basilica in 1951, after its classification as a historical monument in 1913.

The architecture of the basilica combines Romanesque, Gothic and neo-Gothic elements. The 75-metre arrow, inspired by Cornouaillais models, was added by architect Arthur Regnault between 1869 and 1873. The Norman-inspired choir dates back to the 13th-14th centuries, while the nave, rebuilt in the 16th century, features a lambrissed vault decorated with sandstones. The windows of the 15th-17th centuries, classified in 1907, are among the most remarkable in Ille-et-Vilaine, despite the degradations suffered during the Wars of Religion.

The stalls of the choir, carved between 1505 and 1527, illustrate biblical scenes and capital sins, with Renaissance motifs. The organ, built by Debierre in 1888–89 and inaugurated by Camille Saint-Saëns, has been classified since 2005. Other notable works include a 13th-century gissant and a 16th-century Virgin of Mercy (theft). The basilica also preserves traces of its castral past, such as a Romanesque tower with strong taunting.

The college, served by canons until 1791, became a parish church after the Revolution. Its status as a minor basilica, granted by Pius XII, is symbolized by a shadowllino and a bell in the choir. The site, linked to Vitré's family and then to the Dukes of Brissac, reflects the political and religious history of Brittany, between Norman influences and Breton identity claims.

The 19th-century restorations, carried out by architects Nugues and Regnault, marked the building with a neo-Gothic footprint, while preserving medieval elements such as stained glass windows or the arch over warhead crosses. The pilgrimage, centered on the statue of Notre-Dame, remains a living element of the local tradition, testifying to the cultural continuity since the Middle Ages.

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