Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei

Nestled on the banks of the river, the ochre stone houses with their steep tile roofs have attracted many artists. Since then, the village has become the favourite refuge of artists and craftsmen whose shops gather on the banks of the Sarthe, near the old stone bridge. Not far away, in the middle of a meadow nestled in the river's bend, stands the little chapel of Saint-Céneri. Built on the site of an old seventh-century chapel, it was built by Saint Céneri, an Italian hermit and ascetic.

The present chapel dates from the fourteenth century, but it has kept its stone foundations and still houses the saint's statue. Although the monastery built by Céneri's followers was unfortunately destroyed by the Normans, the latter nevertheless built in its place a Romanesque church of remarkable beauty, perched at the top of the village. The ridged roof, unique in France, and the astonishing twelfth-century wall paintings that can be seen in the choir, make it one of the ecclesiastical jewels of Normandy.

← Other sites in Orne