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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Saint-Hilaire de Foussais-Payré, located in the Vendée department (Pays de la Loire), was built between 1040 and 1080 in a Romanesque style. It suffered major destruction: burned and looted between 1225 and 1232, then rebuilt around 1300, before being again sacked in 1562 or 1568 (Wars of Religion), losing its vaults. Its western façade, dating from the last quarter of the 12th century, is decorated with a carved Crucifixion signed by artist Giraud Audebert de Saint-Jean-d-Angely, a remarkable part of his heritage.

Ranked a historical monument in 1862, the church retains the stigma of its turbulent history, remaining "disfigured" according to the sources. It is closely linked to local history: in 990, William IV of Aquitaine offered the courtyard and the church of Fousais to the Abbey of Bourgueil, marking its medieval religious anchor. The village, which flourished in the Renaissance thanks to weaving and agriculture, exported its productions to Germany and Holland, a period that was very good for the region.

The Gallo-Roman site of Fusciacus, ancestor of Fousais, bears witness to an ancient occupation. The present municipality, born in 1968 of the fusion of Fousais and Payré-sur-Vendée, has preserved other heritage elements such as the former Priory of Fousais (XI-14th centuries, registered in 1986) or the Maison François Laurens (XVIth century, local tanner). These vestiges illustrate the economic and religious evolution of the territory, between agriculture, crafts and ecclesiastical power.

The church is part of a typical bocager landscape of the Bas-Bocage, between the forest of Mervent-Vouvant and the Vendée river. Its history reflects regional upheavals, from feudal conflicts to the wars of Religion and Revolution. The restorations of the 20th century (such as Operation Village of the 1980s) safeguarded this heritage, now communal property and open to visit.

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