Château-Gontier

I. SAINT-SATURNIN D'AZE

I. AZE'S SAINT-SATURNIN

Azé is a village in the suburbs of Château-Gontier. Against the northern wall of the Romanesque church a collateral (see glossary) was added in the 17^thcentury. The southern wall of the nave has been preserved. On the walls of the southern apsidiole early-12^th-century paintings are still visible. Although in a poor state of repair, these paintings are original and of remarkable artistic quality.

The most remarkable painting represents two birds face to face.

Partridges (?) face to face (between them an earth mound Partridge (?) : detail.

In the same apsidiole, a hardly legible Christ in majesty and two unidentified men.

II. SAINT-JEAN-BAPTISTE A CHATEAU-GONTIER

II. SAINT-JOHN-THE-BAPTIST IN CHATEAU-GONTIER

It is one of the oldest churches in the département (Mayenne). It used to be a priory founded by Benedictine monks in the 11^th century. The façade and the tower, altered in the 15^th century, were rebuilt in the 19^th century. The edifice is composed of a nave with nine bays flanked by collaterals (see glossary), a transept and a choir. The arcades separating the nave from the aisles are supported by rectangular pillars of roussard sandstone. The choir has two bays, an apse and two chapels.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste: the tower and nave - Saint-Jean-Baptiste: the nave

Northern wall of the nave: geometrical patterns

A rarely represented scene: the Magi riding away after meeting Herod (on the left, behind a column)

The Hebrews pursued by helmeted Egyptian sodiers

Various patterns decorating the arch-stones

III. EGLISE SAINT-MARTIN DE BAZOUGES

III. BAZOUGES SAINT-MARTIN'S CHURCH

Bazouges is about 3km from Château-Gontier on the road to Craon. The 12^th-century church underwent alterations in the 14^th and 16^th centuries (southern and northern chapels, new windows). The Romanesque windows recently cleared in the the northern wall of the nave revealed remarkable mural paintings.