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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame de Pritz Chapel, located in Laval on the road to Changé, is a mainly Romanesque building built from the 8th to the 12th century. It is built near an ancient ford on Mayenne and Pritz Creek, its name evolving over the centuries (Prisco Siccino monasterio in 710, Notre-Dame de Priz in 1407). A niche on its façade was inscribed in 1926, and it was classified in 1938. Private property since its sale in 1794 for 1,805 pounds, it remains in the same family, preserving its heritage.

Originally, the chapel was linked to the Prisco Siccino monastery mentioned in 710 in the will of Bishop Béraire, who had it among other ecclesiastical goods. Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, there were few sources, but the church, already parish, was attached to the young town of Laval founded around 1020. The Benedictines of the Couture established a priory there in the 12th century, expanding the building (nef rebuilt between 1080 and 1085) to accommodate the faithful. Until the end of the 12th century, it remained the parish church of Laval, before this title was transferred to the more central Trinity church.

The chapel then became a frequented place of pilgrimage, decorated with frescoes (XIIth–XIIIth centuries) as a calendar of the seasons or scenes of the Virgin. It also houses burials of benefactors, including André Merienne, and remarkable furniture elements: 17th century altarpiece attributed to Michel Lemesle, statues (saint Christophe, Saint Roch), and a wooden fence of 1776. The Charity of Priz, an active charitable institution from the 14th to the 16th century, distributed breads and alms there on Ascension Day, attracting the poor in the region.

The priory, starting from the Renaissance, retains its spiritual influence. In 1791, the chapel escaped from national sale thanks to the opposition of the churchgoers, before being acquired in 1794. His frescoes, partially erased by the collapse of the 14th century, still reveal apocalyptic cycles and medieval donors. The site, marked by its ford and its Merovingian cemetery (the funerals re-used at the entrance), illustrates the cultural and artistic continuity of the Mayenne.

The fief of Priz, an estate under Puisiers en Ruillé-Froidfonds, includes lands and seigneurial justice. His owners, such as the Hay family or the lords of Parneau, exercised rights there until the Revolution. The chapel, now privately owned, bears witness to more than a thousand years of religious, social and artistic history, from the Merovingians to modern times.

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