Eglise Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix

The chapel is located in the Sainte Croix district, one of the oldest parts of the city of Le Mans. The present building replaces an earlier chapel, which was probably the chapel of a hospice founded by Saint Bertrand in the 6th century.
It was probably in the 10th century that it was erected as a parish, after the hospice fell into ruin; this chapel then depended on the Couture abbey. The original chapel was destroyed in 1794. It rose from the ashes thanks to Basile Moreau, who in 1835 was entrusted with the congregation of the Brothers of Saint Joseph. On land donated by the parish, Abbé Moreau was entrusted with the construction of several buildings to house the fledgling community of the Holy Cross Fathers.

In 1908, the church was decommissioned and all the abbey buildings were assigned to the army.
In 1931, it was returned to worship, having been acquired by the Congregation, which has had a major expansion in Canada.

Basile Moreau died in 1873 and was beatified by the Church in 2007. To mark the 150th anniversary of his death, the mass on Sunday April 7, 2024 was broadcast live on "Le Jour du Seigneur" on France 2.

DATAtourisme France