Discover Neuilly-Le-Vendin

Neuilly-Le-Vendin offers a range of themes to help you plan your trip: the municipal Circuit 12 walking trail, the green route known as La Véloscénie, and the architectural and religious history surrounding the church and mill. The church is also significant for bats. Depending on your interests, you can focus on outdoor activities, architecture, sacred art, or nature.

Walking trails and directions

The municipal Circuit 12 walking trail passes the church and the Moulin à farine Rioux. This gives the route two specific points of interest: a religious building and a historic mill site. It is particularly appealing if you want to combine a walk with local history and architecture.

Another option for getting outdoors is the green route known as La Véloscénie, which is open to walkers, cyclists, runners, and horse riders. These different ways of using the route give you several options for planning your trip. As local road and trail conditions may change, check the latest conditions before setting out.

Church, architecture, and art

The Église de Neuilly-le-Vendin has been dedicated to Saint Calais since 1384. In the nave, remnants of small window openings and a round-arched doorway suggest that the original building was Romanesque. The 1698 altarpiece includes a painting of the Virgin Mary crushing the serpent, flanked by statues of Saint Calais and Saint Christopher.

The dedication, surviving architectural features, and altarpiece represent different periods: the Romanesque origins are a cautious interpretation of the architecture, while 1384 dates the dedication and 1698 the altarpiece. If you would like to see the altarpiece, check access arrangements in advance; visiting conditions may vary.

Mill history and water management

The Moulin de Neuilly, now known as the Minoterie Rioux, is recorded on the 1813 cadastral map. Its buildings were extensively altered in the second and third quarters of the 19th century. The record and subsequent changes mark different phases in the building’s history rather than a single construction date.

The mill was supplied by two holding ponds. A canal approximately 1,500 metres long carried water from the Mayenne to one of them. This approximate length gives a sense of the scale of this historic water infrastructure. Since 1885, Moulins Rioux has served customers in the artisan baking trade. This adds a distinct connection to baking to the mill’s architectural and technical history.

Bats at the church

The ZNIEFF Type 1 site “Eglise de Neuilly-le-Vendin” is a regionally important breeding area for bats. A colony of greater mouse-eared bats lives in the church’s attic. Thus, the church in Neuilly-le-Vendin is associated not only with architecture and religious art, but also with a specific aspect of the natural environment.

Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours

The Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours was renovated between 1927 and 1930. It serves as a procession site for rogation processions, communions, and Whit Monday. This adds a distinct religious tradition, tied to specific occasions, to the sacred art of the Église de Neuilly-le-Vendin.

Discover more destinations: Saint-Georges-Buttavent, Coudray, Lignières-Orgères, Villepail, Chammes, Saint-Pierre-Sur-Orthe, Placé, Couesmes-Vaucé

For the broader travel overview: Mayenne.