Current church of Notre-Dame du Pré
The origins of the female Benedictine monastery of Saint-Julien du Pré are linked to Saint Julian of Le Mans who, according to a tradition spread from the 7th century onward, was said to have been sent to evangelize this region of Gaul by Pope Clement I (1st century). After his death, he was buried outside the city of Le Mans, on the opposite bank of the Sarthe River. Later, a chapel was erected over his tomb and subsequently developed into a sanctuary. In fact, ancient remains dating from the Gallo-Roman period have been discovered around the present church. It is also recorded that, around 835, Bishop Aldric of Le Mans († 856) is said to have transferred Julian’s relics to the cathedral, where they were venerated.
Another tradition, lacking documentary support, places a monastery on this site from the year 802 onward. It may have disappeared during the second half of that same century as a result of the Norman invasions that affected the territory of Le Mans. Around the middle of the 11th century, the site was supposedly restored, leading to the establishment of a monastery with a community of Benedictine nuns, headed by its promoter, Lézeline. With the support of the cathedral chapter, a new church was erected during the 11th and 12th centuries. In the absence of documentary evidence, only the surviving architectural remains can lend credibility to this restoration.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the house suffered the effects of the Hundred Years’ War and, later, in 1562, it was again affected by the Wars of Religion. In the 17th century, restoration works were undertaken, altering part of the medieval structures. The religious community remained on the site until the Revolution; in 1790, the monastery was closed, at which time the community consisted of twelve nuns. At the same time, and for the same reason, the parish church of Notre-Dame had disappeared, prompting the transfer of its functions to the former abbey church, which had been left vacant and without worship. In 1792, it abandoned its former dedication and adopted that of Notre-Dame du Pré.
Despite the alterations carried out during the monastic period and later times, the church still preserves medieval features. In this respect, mention should be made of the construction, in the last quarter of the 19th century, of a bell tower attached to the western façade. The church has three aisles of five bays, with an additional bay resulting from the construction of the new tower. It also has a transept. The chevet consists of a large central apse containing the chancel and an ambulatory with three radiating chapels. There is also an apsidiole on each arm of the transept and a crypt rebuilt on the site of an earlier medieval one.
Photo by GO69, on Wikimedia
L'Abbaye St Julien dit de Prée, ordre de St benoist, lez la Ville du mans
Louis Boudan, 1695
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Detail of Plan de la ville du Mans (1769)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Lithograph by Olivier Wismes (1859)
Réseau des médiathèques de la Ville du Mans
Church floor plan
Published in Congrès archéologique de France (1911)
Church facade (19th century)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Stained glass window of Le Mans cathedral
- BESSE, Jean-Martial (1920). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France, vol. 8, Tours. París : Picard
- DEYRES, Marcel (1985). Maine roman. La nuit des temps, 64. Zodiaque
- GUÉRIN, Paul (1888). Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des saints. Vol. 2. París: Bloud et Barral
- LEDRU, Ambroise (1907). Église de Notre-Dame du Pré au Mans. Inventaire général des richesses d'art de la France. M.R.P. 4. París: Plon
- MUSSAT, André (1961). L’église Notre-Dame-du-Pré au Mans. Congrès archéologique de France. 119 ss. Maine. Société française d'archéologie
- 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
- TRIGER, R.; i altres (1911). Le Mans. Église du Pré. Congrès archéologique de France, 77 ss. Société française d'archéologie
The present church of Notre-Dame du Pré is situated north of the historic centre of Le Mans, on the opposite bank of the Sarthe River