Church of Sainte Pazanne

• One account describes the damage sustained by this church in 1401 following a hurricane which tore the roof off on 3 July of that year.
• A document from 1680 provides some details about the interior of the church, including the chapels of Saint Sebastian, Saint Yves, Saint Margaret and the altar of Saint John.
• Furthermore, a visit by an archdeacon from Nantes in 1683 noted that the building was in a state of disrepair.
• Finally, the parish registers record the blessing on 23 November 1777 of a new marble baptismal font and, on 26 October 1781, of two bells.

One, then two… then three churches

The architect Ménard thus took charge of the construction of the third church.
Work began on 28 May 1878, with the foundation stone being consecrated on 22 September.

The construction of the church took place in two phases:

• from 1878 to 1881 for the chancel, the transept and the three bays of the nave. The whole building was consecrated on 10 May 1881, in the presence of Monsignor Lecoq, Bishop of Nantes.
• and from 1895 to 1898 for the final bay and the bell tower.

Built in the Neo-Gothic style, it is distinguished above all by its height and the richness of its ornamentation.
It is constructed from Saint-Savinien stone, particularly the porch, whilst the interior columns are made of Lavoux stone.

 From church to covered market

Shortly afterwards, the old church was deconsecrated and converted into a covered market.

Twenty years later, on 12 May 1901, the town council voted to demolish the old church – which took place in 1902 – in order to build a modern market hall on the site.

  Notable features of the Church of Notre-Dame de Sainte-Pazanne

The bell tower, built in 1897, stands 67 metres high at the top of the cross.
It is topped by a 5-metre cross and a cockerel.

The original cockerel, positioned at the top of the bell tower, was knocked down by a storm in 1920. It was replaced in July 2004.

 The bell tower houses the four bells of the old church, which were already recorded in 1866:

• “Maria Auguste”, with the Marquis Charrette de Boisfoucault, the mayor, as godfather, and Mademoiselle Marie Camille de la Brosse as godmother;
• “Louise Angélique”, with Hippolyte Baudry du Plessis as godfather and Mrs Barbier du Doré as godmother;
• “Henriette, Jeanne, Pecinne”, with Abbé Jean-Marie Prin as godfather and Mademoiselle Tessier as godmother;
• and “Marie Immaculée Joséphe Thérèse”, with Léon Ecomard as godfather and Mrs Thérèse Guihal as godmother.

• René Michel Menard (1843–1895) between 1877 and 1881,
• and then, between 1895 and 1898, by Langarcy and Émile Libaudière (1853–1923), the architect and ceramicist behind the La Cigale brewery in Nantes.

 Listed as a “little cathedral”