The Laval Castle (Château de Laval) foundation in the 10th century allowed the birth of the city. Emblematic monument of Laval, it occupies a rocky promontory above the Mayenne River. It is composed of two distinct ensembles: the Old Castle (Vieux-Château), which corresponds to the medieval fortified castle, and the New Castle (Château-Neuf), a Renaissance gallery transformed into a courthouse in the 19th century.
The history of the Château de Laval is closely linked to that of the House of Laval, which began with Guy I, the founder of the castle. The monument bears witness to the multiple alliances contracted by this family, as well as to its power, which grew from the 11th century until its disappearance at the end of the Renaissance. The Old Castle is remarkable for its 11th century chapel as well as for its imposing main tower, topped by a 13th century wooden hoarding, an exceptional example of medieval military architecture. The richly worked bays of the medieval dwellings, built in the early 16th century, and the gallery of the Château-Neuf, dating from the 1540s, are striking elements of the Renaissance that show the evolution of architecture at that time.
Since the relocation of the judicial services in the 2000s, the Château-Neuf has been awaiting reconversion. The Old Castle, which served as a prison from the Revolution to 1911, has been open to the public since the 1920s. Initially devoted to archaeology, natural history and decorative arts, it has been home to the Musée d'Art naïf et d'Arts singuliers de Laval since 1967. This museum presents works by numerous artists representative of Naive art and Art Singulier.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).