Attractions and Places To See around Petit-Auverné - Top 20

This ancient tree is said to have the ability to cure boils. Why bother going to the doctor when all it takes is a walk in the woods to heal?

A vast industrial forge site dating back to the 17th century. The natural setting is also remarkable, with the dam on the Don River creating a splendid reservoir that supplied the forges. A favorite is Rue des Rochers Bleus and its hanging pine tree.

July 25, 1944, shortly after 3 p.m., a Mosquito type plane, a light and fast twin-engine, appeared in the sky of Riaillé, followed a few seconds later by two German fighter planes. Arriving above the hamlet of l'Enclose, one of the fighters gained altitude and dove on the Canadian plane, riddling it with bullets. After starting a curve, the burning Mosquito crashed very close to the Provostière pond. The debris littered the ground for about fifty meters, the fire and the explosion of the ammunition made it impossible to approach. When the fire died down, the inhabitants rushed to the scene and found the charred bodies of the pilot and the navigator. They were identified as Lieutenants Burgess and McPherson. The Germans, who came to the scene, told the mayor that he could bury the bodies but without an official ceremony. However, the occupier's orders were not respected. The bodies were wrapped in sheets and transported to a nearby farm, the village carpentry made the coffins. The next day, a religious ceremony was held in the parish church in the presence of many Riaillé residents and wreaths of flowers covered the coffins. The procession then headed to the cemetery under the supervision of German soldiers who did not intervene. For 80 years, these two Canadian officers have been resting in the Riaillé cemetery. Their tomb is regularly maintained and decorated with flowers by the UNC-Riaillé Mémoire association but also by anonymous people who thus perpetuate the memory of their sacrifice. https://www.echoancenis.fr/actualite-4422-riaille-le-25-juillet-1944-deux-aviateurs-canadiens-etaient-abattus-dans-le-ciel-de-riaille

Former site of industrial forges in the 17th century, you will discover a landscape bathed in greenery, the pond and the ancestral buildings carved out of the beautiful blue stone. Starting point for hiking trails. Another essential element of the forges site, the large coal storage hall of yesterday transformed today into a museum (free entry). The Forge Neuve museum explains in a clear and fun way the mining past and work in the forges from the 17th to the 19th century. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forges_de_Moisdon-la-Rivi%C3%A8re

On the Grande Balise road, a few hundred meters from the forest path, you will discover the venerable nail oak on the right. This is a 500 year old tree believed to have healing powers against furunculosis in humans. This oak would be the only survivor of a group of sessile oaks felled before 1742, it is today isolated among younger subjects. With a circumference of 4.20 meters at 1 meter from the ground, it is distinguished by a niche attached to its trunk which houses a Virgin and Child, and above all by a trunk covered with hundreds of nails. Formerly, the word nail designated boils; and popular tradition attributes to this oak the power to cure these painful conditions. An ancient pagan rite was practiced: it involved coming alone, at night, out of sight, to rub coffin nails against the sick part of one's body; then go around the tree seven times, address a prayer to the soul of the tree, drive the nails into the trunk on the side that never sees the sun. The rite ended by walking backwards and saluting the tree. https://www.petitfute.com/v75850-vallons-de-l-erdre-44540/c1173-visites-points-d-interet/c974-site-naturel/533485-le-chene-aux-clous-du- patisseau.html

Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption is a very popular name, which indicates the patronage of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, over this parish. Created completely pure by the grace of God, Mary could not experience the degradation of her body in death. It is popular tradition which, throughout the centuries, has pushed the Church to define “the Assumption of Mary” as a dogma in 1950. The imposing Riaillé church was rebuilt between 1841 and 1887. Historical notes mention more than 20 places of worship over the centuries of which very few traces remain.

Not far from the crash site, a stone memorial to the two 27-year-old Canadians.