Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Our Lady of Vallet found its origins in the 12th century, with a primitive chapel linked to a leprosy or seigneury, probably called Saint-Michel. Acquired around 1160 by the Priory of Saint Croix de Nantes (depending on the Abbey of Marmoutiers), it passed into the 13th century under the authority of the chapter of the Cathedral of Nantes. Vallet was erected as a parish in 1272, and his church, dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint Matthew, was enlarged before the seventeenth century with a nave and two seigneurial chapels (Saint Anne and Saint Roch). A relic of Saint Nicholas was venerated.

The French Revolution marked a tragic turning point: in 1792 the bells were melted at Nantes, and in 1793 the Mass was disrupted by opponents of the priest-dejurer. During the Vendée War (1794), General Turreau ordered the fire of the village by the ninth infernal column of Stephen Cordellier. The church, reduced to its walls, was rebuilt a century later, symbolizing the resilience of the community.

The reconstruction began in 1864 under the direction of architect Henri Gilée, with a first stone laid in 1869. François Bourgoüin took over the work, and the church was blessed on 3 January 1875 before being consecrated in 1886 by Bishop de La Vergne, archbishop of Paris, assisted by the bishops of Nantes and Blois. In neo-Gothic style, it is 72 metres long with a 52-metre bell tower, becoming the largest church in the Nantes vineyard.

In 2025, a relic of Saint Charbel, a Lebanese Maronite monk, was installed in an absidial chapel dedicated to Saint Louis, attracting a thousand faithful. The building, in Latin cross with walk-through, preserves traces of its medieval and revolutionary past, while embodying Vallet's religious and architectural identity.

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