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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais, located in Hambers in Mayenne (Pays de la Loire), is a religious building dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Its Romanesque architecture was partially redesigned in the 15th and 17th centuries, with a last stone of the choir laid in 1684 under the impulse of Abbé Jean Nourry. The building is singularized by its bell tower-campanile, rare type in the region, reinforced with foothills and an intermediate hanger. This monument, which has been partly listed as a historical monument since 1954, bears witness to a local history marked by an enlivened inventory in 1906, where 400 inhabitants gathered to attend the operation.

Inside, the church houses remarkable elements such as 16th century carved stalls and a high altar of 1691 or 1696, signed François Langlois. This marble altarpiece, decorated with terracotta statues (Saint Gervais, Saint Protais, Saint René, Saint Stephen and a Virgin with Child), includes a central painting depicting the Ascension. Another altar, dedicated to St.Eustache and dated around 1530, illustrates the Renaissance style with archings in the middle of the hangar, pilasters decorated with liturgical instruments and coat of arms of donors. Father Angot suggests a link between this altar and the artists who worked at the Château du Rocher de Mézangers at the same time.

The building, located at the crossroads of departmental roads 236 and 241, plays a central role in the town of Hambers. Its history reflects the social tensions of the time, as evidenced by the 1906 inventory, where the presence of gendarmes was able to appease the fears of the agent in the face of a large crowd. The facade of the church, protected since 1954, and its furniture (statues of Saint Joseph and Saint Barbe, baroque tabernacle), make it a rich heritage, both religious, architectural and historical.

Available sources, including Gilbert Chaussis's (1985) works and Flohic's (2002) heritage inventory, highlight the importance of this monument in the diocese of Laval. Its atypical bell tower, adorned altars and its turbulent history make it an emblematic place of Mayenne, reflecting the artistic and social evolutions of the Middle Ages region in modern times.

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