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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame de Ségrie, located in the Sarthe department in Pays de la Loire, is a Catholic building built between the end of the 12th and the middle of the 13th century. Its architecture, marked by broken arched double arches and almond-shaped vaults, reflects the construction techniques of this period. The materials used, including the reddish iron sandstone, are characteristic of the region, as evidenced by their use in the Gallo-Roman enclosure of Le Mans.

The construction of the church was partially financed in 1228 by the sale of land initiated by Rabier, then parish priest of Ségrie. The building was consecrated in 1243 by Geoffroy de Loudun, bishop of Le Mans, suggesting a construction period of about fifty years. Few archival documents remain to clarify the intermediate steps, but stylistic analysis confirms an achievement completed in the thirteenth century. The church, with a single nave of five spans and flat bedside, incorporates a rectangular bell tower covered with a building, typical of the rural churches of the West.

A remarkable element of the building is the stone of justice and publication, an external stone platform. This edicle, common in Maine and Brittany, served the civil authorities to proclaim public announcements. The church has been classified as historic monuments since December 17, 1912, recognizing its heritage and architectural value.

The building is also distinguished by its integration into the local landscape: built in the heart of the village of Ségrie, it embodies the central role of parish churches in the social and religious organization of the medieval countryside. Its state of conservation and protection today make it a valuable testimony to the early Romanesque and Gothic heritage in Sarthe.

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