Home » Sites and places to visit » Notre-Dame Church - Vire Normandy

Notre-Dame Church – Vire Normandy

Notre Dame church was built in the 13th century on the site of a Romanesque chapel. Entirely designed in local granite, it was enlarged and modified several times until the 16th century.
In its history, the building has known many upheavals. It was looted during the Wars of Religion and during the Revolution, then devastated during the Allied bombings in June 1944.
Listed as a Historic Monument, Notre Dame Church has undergone an identical restoration between 1948 and 1957.
Today, the church retains its Gothic architecture and its medieval appearance with its bell tower, its buttress arches, its pinnacles and the many gargoyles.
The nave is original, it rises on three levels: large arcades, triforium, tall windows. Some pillars were restored after the Second World War, the granite turned red in certain places testifies to the violence of the fire in 1944.
As you walk through the church, you will discover certain vestiges of the old 12th century Romanesque chapel, notably capitals decorated with leaves or scrolls.
The lower sides are made up of two spans, you will find there numerous chapels which formerly were maintained and decorated by the brotherhoods of trades, very numerous in Vire.
The most imposing chapel is located in the southern transept, dedicated to St Michel, it was built in the 14th century by a rich Lord Virois, Richard d’Enfernet, Viscount of Vire, close to King Charles V and Bertrand du Guesclin, he defended Vire against the English during the Hundred Years War.
To end the visit, a flamboyant Gothic choir built in the early 16th century by the master builders of Mont Saint Michel.

Médias

Find us

Rue Notre Dame, VIRE 14500 VIRE NORMANDIE
Route