The Church Sainte Anne of Vire !!!

Posted in France

As usual lately, digging into my cd rom vault of memories found me new pictures that should be in my blog for you and me. The town of Vire ,today Vire Normandie, but I rather keep the old name ; is worth the detour to see in detail ,I was just passing by Vire as several times !   Therefore, this is my take on the Church Sainte Anne of Vire !!!Hope you enjoy this new find as I.

The town of Vire is located in the Calvados department 14 of the Normandie region of my belle France. The town is 30 km from Flers, 38 km from Saint-Lô, 60 km from Caen, 249 km from Versailles , and 264 km from my current town. The town is crossed by the D577 from Villers-Bocage to Mortain and by the D 524 from Argentan to Granville. The D 674 from Vire to Carentan joins the D 577 to the north of the town. You can get there from Saint-Lô by the D 674 and Caen by the D 577. I took the N24 dir Rennes, then around the rocade or N136 to connect with A84 dir Caen ,briefly becomes N175 around Avranches but continue dir Caen at exit/sortie 37 take the D924/524 dir Vire,.The train station of Vire is on the line of Paris-Vaugirard (Montparnasse 3) in Granville.

The Church Sainte Anne has a spot since the Middle Ages, a shrine dedicated to Sainte Anne has faced the portal of the Hôtel-Dieu to which it belongs. Too small, a new building was constructed between 1860 and 1866 in a Norman neo-Romanesque style. It is a heritage that spans the centuries. As I said they are the oldest building in the town. It is our shared heritage. Churches represent much more than mere walls. They are true testimonies to History with a capital H. They are also witnesses to a lifetime.

The Church Sainte Anne is oriented and built according to a Latin cross plan. It is located on the Place Sainte Anne passing by the D577 road. The church is composed of five parts: the nave, the transept, the two side aisles and the choir. The chevet ends with a semicircular apse. The nave has six bays and the choir has four. The western facade is a harmonic facade, provided with three portals, two of which are artificial. The central body of this facade rises on three levels. Two small square towers are flanked at the ends of the facade. A clock is present at roof level. The square bell tower is placed at the junction between the nave and the choir, on the crossing of the transept; it rises on two levels pierced with arched bays and by open arcading with louvers on the upper level.

The Church Sainte Anne has been closed to the public since December 24, 2024. A decorative plaster element from one of the keystones came loose and smashed the console of the organ, Sadly.  Sainte Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary and therefore the grandmother of Jesus Christ. Initially absent from the Gospels, Anne is venerated as the patron saint of mothers, probably replacing the Gallic goddess Ana, mother of all the gods, whose sanctuaries were recovered and consecrated. She is generally depicted sitting or standing, teaching the Virgin. A healing saint, she can be called upon by women fearing sterility, but also for all kinds of illnesses. She is celebrated on July 26, The biggest shrine is near me at Sainte Anne d’Auray, Morbihan 56 Brittany.

The town of Viré-Normandie on the Church Sainte Anne :  https://www.virenormandie.fr/decouvrir-vire-normandie/histoire-et-patrimoine/les-monuments/#eglisesaintanne

The Viré country tourist office on its heritage : https://www.paysdevire-normandie-tourisme.fr/sites-et-lieux-de-visite/patrimoine-historique-et-bati/

There you go folks, a nice short and sassy visit to quant ,nice Viré, for the memories of my road warrior trails. Looking forward to be back, eventually, worth the detour. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Sainte Anne of Viré !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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