14. Le Thoureil to Juigné-sur-Loire

The church of Saint-Genulf du Thoureil was built in the 11th century on the alluvial terrace on the banks of the Loire, out of reach of the floods of the Loire. It was in the 13th century that the bell tower was built on the Loire side.
The construction of the Grande Levée d'Anjou from the 12th century, on the right bank of the river will have harmful repercussions on the sanctuary. The rise of the flood level, the acceleration of the current will undermine and reduce the bank. In the 18th century, the church, invaded by the highest waters, was disused and abandoned in 1781. In 1807, a new church was rebuilt and consecrated under the name of Saint-Charles.
Two very beautiful hunts from the Abbey of Saint-Maur de Glanfeuil are displayed on each side of the choir.

Archaeological excavations have attested a Gallo-Roman occupation of the site on the banks of the Loire.
 According to legend, in the 6th century, Saint Benedict sent a disciple named Maurus, a monk from Mont Cassin, to Gaul. There he founded Glanfeuil Abbey, the first Benedictine abbey in Anjou, which he governed for almost forty years.
The abbey of Saint Maur, ruined by the Norman raids in the middle of the 9th century and reestablished in the same century under the reign of Louis le Bègue, had been, according to the custom of those times, built and fortified as a place of war.
It was rebuilt again towards the end of the 17th century and completed with an abbey house in the 18th century. Saint-Maur-de-Glanfeuil Abbey was restored in the middle of the 20th century.
Until the 1980s, the abbey belonged to the Assumptionists; it was a reception centre. They sold it to the Apprentices of Auteuil who, not having the right to build workshops, in turn sold it to the Departmental Council of Maine-et-Loire. Today it is a holiday centre.
The abbey cannot be visited.

A deed of foundation, dated 929, cedes the priory to the Abbey of Saint-Aubin d'Angers. A religious community settles there. In the 12th century a fresco was painted in the chapter house, one of the oldest in Anjou. From the 13th to the 14th centuries the priory prospers with its agricultural income, new buildings are added in the 15th century. Admire the superb fresco on the fireplace. After the Revolution the priory became a private estate and in 1988 the commune became the owner of the estate.

Saint-Aubin church replaces a collegiate church founded by Foulques Nerra, county of Anjou from 987 to 1040. The present church, in the Angevin Gothic style, was built between the mid 12th and mid 13th centuries. The choir vault was rebuilt in the 15th century, at the same time as the chapter of four canons and ten chaplains were given new stalls.
This fortified church had two covered walkways pierced with loopholes. It was built with a local stone, the blond tuffeau. This fine limestone rock, easily worked, was extracted from the quarries of Raindron, a troglodytic hamlet located in the south of the commune on the hillside of Aubance. It owes its colours to traces of iron oxide.
Text source: Extract from the information panels of the Saint-Aubin church.

This medieval fortress had seven towers. It was surrounded by a moat. On several occasions it was set on fire, destroyed and then abandoned...
Castle erected under the authority of Foulques III, known as Foulques Nerra, Count of Ajou, from 987 to 1040.
From 1415 to 1430 it belonged to Gilles de Rays, companion of Joan of Arc, better known under the name of Bluebeard accused of witchcraft. Then from the 15th century it is rebuilt and undergoes the influence of the Renaissance.
From the medieval fortress remain visible certain details such as fire hydrants, the base of a tower of the entrance châtelet, and a mark of the drawbridge that spanned the old moat.
Underground passages, and this time it's not a romantic legend, lead from the castle to various points in the village.
Today the castle is a private property that cannot be visited.

In the 9th century it was a barn church. From 1150 to 1250, the school of architecture created the "Plantagenêt" style and transformed the church.
In 1852, a bell tower is added and the architect Duvêtre restores the nave and the transept in neo-gothic style.
What makes this church special is that the vaults are supported by canopies and not by pillars as in other churches.
Under the canopies, statues and columns decorate the choir.
The church has an important statuary.