EGLISE SAINT-PIERRE À CHANGÉ

Primitive church and parish church of St. Peter : Its foundation in the first centuries of Christianity by Saint Thuribe, companion of Saint Julien (first bishop of Le Mans) marks the importance of Changé (Cambiacus) in the Gallo-Roman period (sandstone shell coffin near the church). Saint Aldric, bishop of Le Mans in the middle of the 9th century, founded the primitive church, which was pillaged and burnt down under Charles-le-Chauve (860-865). A second church, dedicated to Saint Peter, was built in the Romanesque period around 1100, served by the Benedictines of Evron. The church has a vaulted choir made of rubble stones resting on round pillars of Grès Roussard. The floor of the nave is paved with tombstones, two of which can be seen at the chevet (1754) outside. Mural paintings decorating the choir were discovered during work in 1852 Until the French Revolution, three bells, of which only the big one, the Marie-Jeanne Geneviève (goddaughter of the Duke de la Trémoille, Count of Laval, patron saint of the parish) blessed in 1754, still exist. The confessional of the south transept dates from 1767 (date and initials of parish priest Pierre Rousseau on the ironwork of the door). The present St Peter's church, in neo-gothic style, was erected from 1869 to 1879 by the architects Renous and Boutreux because the church rebuilt in the 12th century was too small The first stone of the new construction was laid on September 23rd 1869 and the building covers the old church and the old cemetery. The nave was erected in 1870, the choir and the transept in 1871-72. It was finished in 1872 and the vaults of the nave were finished in 1879 with the installation of an iron framework because the ground was unstable. The tower was never completed, nor crowned with the planned stone spire. The stained-glass windows were destroyed during the 2nd World War. The ensemble was restored at the end of the 20th century. The interior is also in pure neo-gothic style: ribbed vaults on cross ribs, ribs falling on plant capitals and columns with 3 fasces in a single jet. The furniture is also in neo-gothic style (high altar and altarpiece of Saint Joseph and the Virgin)