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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Sulpice de Fougères, founded in the 11th century at the foot of the castle, was the first parish of the city. It was built from the 14th to the 18th century, with a flamboyant Gothic nave (XVth) and a choir completed in 1760. It housed the Marian cult of Notre-Dame-des-Marais, whose 14th century statue, venerated since the 11th century, was destroyed in 2021.

The building preserves two exceptional medieval altarpieces (XVth-XVIth), including one offered by Duke Francis II of Brittany. The furniture of the choir, created between 1757-1774 under the impulse of the rector Jean Vallée, illustrates the Breton rock style with a master altar in polychrome marbles and classified stalls. The windows (XIXe-XXe) complete this ensemble, despite the partial loss of Pierre Symon's originals (1558).

Ranked a historical monument in 1910, the church bears witness to the tensions between parishioners and Benedictines of Marmoutiers (XI-XVIIIe), as well as to the post-Concile liturgical evolution of Trent. Its steeple with slate arrow and its carved foothills (seven capital sins, Melusine) make it a jewel of Breton religious heritage. The nave, with carved wooden vaults, contrasts with the raised choir, highlighting the sacred hierarchy.

The tanners' district, where the church rises, was an extramural medieval suburb dedicated to leather work. The proximity of the moat of the castle and the former course of Nançon made it a strategic place, opposite the high-rise (bourg-neuf) city centered on Saint-Léonard. Lateral chapels, like tanners (1380), reflect local corporations.

The statue of Notre-Dame-des-Marais, exhumed around the 13th-XIVth century, was the object of continuous worship until its destruction in 2021. Couroned in 1923, it was carried in procession during epidemics or wars (1900, 1914-1918). Its medieval altarpiece, adorned with the arms of France and Brittany, recalls the Ducal attachment to Fougères, a border stronghold.

The organs, rebuilt in 1921 by Georges Gloton, replaced an instrument attested in 1447. Their classic buffet, designed by Villard, was dismantled when they moved behind the choir. The church also houses classified paintings (Sassoferrato, École de Coypel) and the baptismal fonts of Thory (1770), illustrating its central role in the religious life of the Fugère.

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