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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel and fortified enclosure of Loré, located in Oisseau in Mayenne, is an architectural complex dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. It includes a chapel of Notre-Dame de Pitié, built of granite and covered with a chevron frame, as well as the remains of a fortified enclosure with shooting windows and a round road. Originally, this site was part of a feudal castle, of which today only fragmentary elements such as mâchicoulis and a wall pierced with archeries remain. The chapel, still standing, houses a classified 15th century stained glass window, three statues of the same period, and an 18th century altarpiece.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the chapel was still connected to an ogival gate framed by shooting windows, preceded by a stone bridge spanning moat, replacing an old drawbridge. These elements have now disappeared, but the moat and the fortified wall still remind the defensive aspect of the site. The chapel, surmounted by a campanile, now forms the north side of the courtyard of a farm, after the transformation of the castle into a farm during the French Revolution.

The site is linked to the history of the Loré family, notably Ambroise de Loré, born in this castle and owner of the place until the end of the 16th century. In the 17th century, the estate was sold to the family of the Tillet, Parisian parliamentarians. Among their descendants is Marguerite-Angélique du Bellay, born at the castle in 1680, whose lineage includes Victor-Donatien de Musset-Pathay, grandfather of the famous writers Paul and Alfred de Musset. The chapel and remains of the enclosure were inscribed in the Historic Monuments in 2007, thus preserving this testimony of the seigneurial and religious architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries.

The seigneurial chapel, in large blocks of granite, presents a structure masked by a panelling and a moulded sandstone. The remains of the fortified enclosure, with their defensive elements, illustrate the evolution of a medieval site into a post-revolutionary farm. The classified stained glass, the statues of stone and polychrome wood, as well as the altarpiece of the eighteenth century, testify to the artistic and religious richness of the place throughout the centuries.

The castle of Loré, before its transformation, was surrounded by moat and accessible by a gate overlooking an inner courtyard. The chapel, adjacent to this gate, preserves remarkable architectural elements such as its pediment surmounted by a campanile. This site, although partially altered, remains a significant example of the fortified and religious heritage of Mayenne, mixing seigneurial history, defensive architecture and agricultural heritage.

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