The best traffic-free bike rides around Bécon-Les-Granits

Heartthrob for this very beautiful castle.

easy to park

In 1760, Laurent Bertholet, the village priest, rebuilt the church and had the bells recast. Dedicated to Saint Augustine in the 18th century, the church measured 15 meters long by 7.40 meters wide, with a chancel (4 meters by 3.25 meters) and a sanctuary (2 meters by 4.20 meters). The bell tower now houses three bells: Pauline, Louise, and Bernadette. The stained-glass window in the center of the chancel was a gift from Mr. and Mrs. de la Perrière. In 1789, the parish of Saint-Augustin-des-Bois was renamed, like all other parishes bearing the name of a saint. It was then called "Le Grand Bois" (The Great Wood). The grievance notebooks provide us with information about village life: “The poor abound among the hemp growers, as well as among the tenant farmers and sharecroppers scattered throughout the woods and heathland, who saw their work reduced to nothing by the invasions of does, stags, badgers, wild boars, rabbits, partridges… all sorts of predatory animals that destroy rural property.” The presbytery, for its part, was acquired by the municipality in 1825, and the cemetery was moved outside the village in 1808.

PRICES Individual price adult: €9.50 Individual price child: from €0.00 to €0.00

SCHEDULES From February 12 to April 30, 2022 From May 2 to June 4, 2022 Monday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Tuesday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Wednesday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Thursday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Friday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

VISITS Free individual visits Individual guided tours Average duration of the individual visit: 2 hours free Group reception Free group visits Guided group tours Educational group visits Average duration of the group visit: 2h30 Languages available Spoken: French, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch Panels: French, English Audio: German, English, Spanish, French, Italian

On a rocky promontory overlooking the Maine, Angers Castle is an impressive monument with a very rich history. On these lands there were in fact a Neolithic burial, a Gallic oppidum, the heart of the Roman city and a vast Romanesque count's palace. In the 13th century, the mother of King Saint Louis, Blanche of Castile, had a gigantic half-kilometer enclosure built there punctuated by seventeen towers of shale and limestone. This fortress gives off a formidable impression of power and its elaborate military architecture makes it almost impregnable. However, the adaptations of the castle to the evolution of artillery, its use as a prison and barracks led to the disappearance of certain medieval buildings. From the top of the ramparts, on the walkway, the panorama of the city is absolutely unique. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Dukes of Anjou Louis I, Louis II and King René, close to the King of France, who were also Counts of Provence and claimed Italian territories, established their court in Angers. The buildings preserved inside the enclosure - the chapel, the chatelet and the royal residence - as well as the Apocalypse tapestry still testify today to the interest of these enlightened princes in architecture and works of art. Due to its dimensions - 100 meters long -, its age and its stylistic and technical virtuosity, the Apocalypse tapestry is an extraordinary masterpiece of medieval art, unique in the world. Commissioned at the end of the 14th century by Louis I, produced in record time, it is composed of six pieces each made up of fourteen scenes in two registers. The painter to King John of Bruges is the author of the cartoons for this priceless gem. A considerable work intended to impress those close to the prince, it illustrates the text of the Apocalypse of Saint John, the last book of the Bible. This tapestry is also a formidable document on the historical, social and political context of its creation, marked in particular by the Hundred Years' War. It belongs to the largest treasure of cathedral tapestries in Europe, comprising more than a hundred pieces, which is kept at the Château d'Angers. The Château d'Angers is also home to gardens exceptional in their diversity: the regular boxwood and yew garden, the vineyard, the vegetable garden, the rose garden, the hydrangea garden, the hanging garden and its medicinal, dyeing and evil plants … Some are also represented on the tapestry of the Apocalypse. These gardens, which combine history and innovation in a sustainable development approach, constitute a most pleasant place for walkers to breathe. To bring this unique heritage to life, the National Castle Estate regularly offers its visitors temporary exhibitions in the rooms of the royal residence or even in the gardens.

The church was rebuilt at the end of the 12th century, but its bell tower, later, only dates from the 16th century. The building survived the Revolution without damage but underwent numerous transformations in the 19th century, in particular during the work of the architect Charles Joly-Leterme who between 1864 and 1880 revisited this monument in the neo-Romanesque style.