Saint-Georges church
The early history of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Vaas is very poorly known. There is a tradition, lacking documentary basis, that associates it with Charlemagne (748–814). According to this account, the monastery was founded with property confiscated from Ganelon, who is said to have betrayed Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux, and was populated by canons from the collegiate church of Saint-Romain de Blaye (Gironde), where, according to tradition, Roland had been buried.
What is certain is that the house of Augustinian canons of Vaas was completely ruined in 1370 during the Hundred Years' War, when its archive was also destroyed. Nevertheless, a number of references to the establishment appear from the mid-twelfth century onward; the first known abbot is Geoffroy, mentioned in 1161. In 1726, the abbey was affiliated with the Premonstratensian Order, which undertook its restoration. The community was suppressed in 1790 as a consequence of the French Revolution, at which time five canons were still residing there; this episode once again affected the archive and library. During the nineteenth century, the parish of Saint-Georges was transferred to the former abbey church, which now bears that dedication. In 1944, the complex was again damaged by bombing.
The church, built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, has survived, although with later modifications and restorations. It is a single-nave building of two bays with a transept. The chevet consists of a semicircular apse of the same width as the nave. Two apsidioles open onto the transept arms; only the northern one is externally visible, and its vault preserves an ancient painting of Christ among the Evangelists. The monastic buildings, now occupied by the town hall, adjoin the western façade.
Christ and the Evangelists
Tower to the west of the church
Town hall
- ARDURA, Bernard (1993). Abbayes, prieurés et monastères de l'ordre de Prémontré. Nancy: Presses U. De Nancy
- BESSE, Jean-Martial (1920). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France, vol. 8, Tours. París : Picard
- LEGEAY, Fortuné (1855). Recherches historiques sur Vaas et Lavernat. París: Lanier
- LEMOING, Chanoine (1959). Saint Romain, fondateur de l’église de Blaye. Revue historique de Bordeaux et du département de la Gironde, vol. 8/3
- PIOLIN, Dom Paul (1851-56). Histoire de l’Église du Mans. Vols. I i III. París: Julien, Lanier et Cie. Ed.
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1856). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 14. París: Typographia Regia
- VOISIN (1848). Notice sur les châteaux de Ganes et la fondation de l'abbaye de Vaas. Archives historiques de la Sarthe. Le Mans: Gallienne
Vaas is situated south of Le Mans, on the road to Tours