A keep, altarpieces and the Pail Forest
Eleven towns in Mayenne, their churches and chapels, a manor house and waymarked trails.
11
towns around Villaines
Heathland, forests and country churches
The Pail Forest stretches across Averton and Crennes-sur-Fraubée, the Ornette flows through Gesvres, and all around, bocage alternates with heathland.
A word from the region
The editors
Between the Pail Forest and the Villepail heathland, the churches hold real treasures: a terracotta Virgin Mary in Crennes-sur-Fraubée and a 16th-century choir stall in Saint-Mars-du-Désert.
In Villaines-la-Juhel, the market is held every Monday morning, and an orange-marked trail features fifteen information panels; in Saint-Germain-de-Coulamer, the Classé manor house has a round tower.
Churches, heathland and trails
Stops along the way
A loop in Averton, a trail in Villepail, a bridge in Gesvres.
Averton, the Merdereau loop
The Merdereau loop starts in Averton and is just over 9 km long. At the Perles site, a recreational lake sits beside a mountain biking center.
The Bon-Secours trail
About 14 km long, this trail starts at the church in Villepail and takes its name from the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel.
The Five-Stone Bridge
Made of five wide stone slabs, it spans the Ornette in Gesvres. Built around 1833, it was rediscovered in the 2000s.
The details that tell the story of the region
From church to chapel, each town has its stories: the statue of Saint Barbara in her chapel at Saint-Germain-de-Coulamer, or the Courcité parishioners who resisted the 1906 church inventory for more than two hours.
Wood
A polychrome wooden altarpiece of Saint Roch
In the south chapel of the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption church in Averton, the altarpiece of Saint Roch dates from 1677 and is listed as an object of historic interest. Another polychrome wooden altarpiece, dedicated to Notre-Dame and dating from the same year, stands in the north chapel.
Where to look? In Averton, inside the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption church, in the south chapel.
Stone
A keep overlooked by a cross
In Villaines-la-Juhel, the foundations of a square keep remain from the fortress on Rue du Château, and an eight-meter-high cross towers over the ruins. On July 14, 1941, a French flag was placed on the cross above the ruins of the old castle.
Where to look? Rue du Château, in Villaines-la-Juhel, at the foot of the large cross.
Heathland
Protected heathland and peat bog
The Landes et tourbière des Égoutelles Regional Nature Reserve is in Villepail, which is also home to part of the Natura 2000 site in the Multonne Forest.
Where to look? In Villepail, in the Égoutelles Regional Nature Reserve.
Custom
Hemp dolls on the altar of the Virgin Mary
In Courcité, the sacristan once placed hemp dolls on the altar of the Virgin Mary before Easter, in the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul church.
Where to look? The custom has died out, but the church in Courcité still has its stone bell tower.
History
The gravestone of a parish priest
At Saint-Germain-de-Coulamer, the church preserves the gravestone of Jehan Marmion, parish priest in the 16th century, listed as a historic monument in 1910.
Where to find it? At Saint-Germain-de-Coulamer, inside the church.
Another story to tell?
A wayside cross like the one at la Guinhard in Courcité, a chapel, a manor house: if something caught your eye along the way, write to us.
News from the area
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People from the area
A singer, a poet and a politician born here.
Madeleine Grey 1896-1979
A singer born in Villaines-la-Juhel, she gave the premiere of Ravel’s Chansons madécasses in 1926; Fauré had written Mirages for her.
Achille Paysant 1841-1927
A poet born in Villepail, he published Le Chêne in 1869, taught at the Lycée Henri-IV from 1877 to 1904 and received the Legion of Honor in 1898.
Vital Bruneau 1835-1892
A doctor born in Villaines-la-Juhel, he became its mayor, then a member of parliament for Mayenne from 1876 to 1885.