Notre Dame de Sainte Croix, Le Mans
Notre Dame de Sainte Croix is a Catholic church located in the city of Le Mans, France. The church gives its name to the neighborhood itself. It was the first site of the Congregation of Holy Cross. History Ancient church The Sainte-Croix district was initially a suburb of the city of Le Mans. For a long time there were quality vineyards, tended by religious orders east of the city. The early church was built in the 6th century by Bertrand. It was first used as a chapel for a makeshift hospice. It was set up as a parish at the end of the 10th century, a period certainly coinciding with the deterioration and the end of the hospice. The church was built on a hill facing west, where remained until its destruction in 1794. Basil Moreau and the Holy Cross At the beginning of the 1800s the site, then called Notre-Dame de Bel-Air, was comprised a main house with additional buildings and a surrounding property of over 36,000 square meters. On December 24, 1832, the site was given as a gift to Father Basil Moreau by Jobbé Delile, an honorary canon of the Cathedral of Le Mans. Basil Moreau, a