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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame de Torcé-en-Vallée, located in the Sarthe department, is a Romanesque religious building, partially rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin and has been a place of Marian devotion since the Middle Ages, with an annual pilgrimage on the Feast of the Visitation on July 2. The church was once attached to a priory dependent on the abbey of Marmoutiers, of which only architectural traces remain like the large Romanesque door of the facade.

The present structure is the result of a major reconstruction in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, including a choir with five sides, two spans and transept-forming chapels. The choir, completed in 1530, houses a stone retable whose high relief of the Dormition of the Virgin (1531) is remarkable. The north side nave, added after 1514, and a south chapel (17th century) complete the building. Among his treasures, the glass roof of the Crucifixion (1520), commissioned by Charles de Coesmes and realized by glassmaker Jean Mauclerc, represents Saint John, Mary, and two donors.

The church, originally listed as a historic monument in 1926, was fully classified in 2003. Its history reflects its central role in local religious life, marked by architectural and artistic additions from the 16th and 17th centuries. The adjacent priory, now disappeared, communicated with the church through an opening in the northern chapel, highlighting its past importance as a prioral church.

The site remains an active place of worship and a testimony of the religious architecture of Sartho, combining Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance elements. Its 16th century stained glass window, Sarthe's oldest still in place, and its lateral altarpiece (1638) illustrate its rich artistic heritage. The pilgrimage to Notre-Dame-de-Torcé perpetuates a medieval tradition, attracting faithful and visitors at the feast of July 2.

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