Champagné is a commune of the Sarthe, Pays de la Loire region, 15 km east of Le Mans.
If the dynamism of the city of Le Mans has impacted the locality and led to the establishment of businesses, including agri-food (production of rillettes), the territory of Champagné remains green and wooded. This is particularly the case around the town that developed along the course of Huisne. Already occupied during Prehistory and Antiquity, the site of the village houses a priory from the twelfth century and a fortified enclosure is erected to monitor a ford and collect a right of way.
Small artisanal and commercial city surrounded by farms, Champagné is the scene of a hard battle in 1871 when the French troops vainly try to prevent the Prussians to progress towards Le Mans.
During the twentieth century, the city experienced an economic and demographic boom while preserving its heritage and its living environment. The town of nearly 4000 inhabitants is a peaceful and pleasant stop near the major tourist sites of the region.
If you can see some remains of the medieval fortifications in the historic center of the city, as well as some old houses with picturesque or stylish architecture (such as the House La Breteche whose bases are of the twelfth century and is equipped with a Renaissance fireplace), it is the Saint-Désiré church which is the heritage jewel of Champagné.
It was built in the sixteenth century on the basis of a first Romanesque church erected before the year 1000. A deadly bay testifies to this heritage. The bell tower was added in the nineteenth century. Inside the church which depended on the canons of Le Mans, several items of furniture or works of sacred art are to be seen. This is the case of the altarpiece of the high altar (sixteenth) whose central canvas is the Annunciation, the baptistery, various statues (including terracotta).
On the religious level, at the cemetery level, the 15th century chapel of Saint-Sauveur houses a remarkable polychrome terracotta Pietà from the 15th century and a 16th century mural fresco.
In different registers, the Belgian military cemetery evokes the parking of Belgian soldiers during the First War (who were victims of the Spanish flu) and one can also observe the memorial of the battle of January 11, 1871, at the crossroads of the Verdun and Hauts Villiers road.
Interesting also, the Eiffel-style bridge built on the Huisne in 1891, near the mill, which replaced a stone bridge of the sixteenth century.
Finally, while walking in the city, one can admire several frescoes (mosaics or paintings) of contemporary artists: at the level of the School and the Wilbur Wright College (signed Mosca de Selva), Jacques Guède street and the Rondeau gymnasium (works by Lydia Blanc), or at the roundabout Saint-Hubert (signed Bertrand Thomas).
As for the astonishing statue-marble fountain of Languedoc built on the esplanade in front of the town hall, which rises to almost 4 m, it was designed by Jean-Bernard Métais.
For this then sports and leisure "nature", a cyclo-cross track and equipment dedicated to fans of skateboarding and skateboarding are available. The banks of the Huisne have also been developed for walks with picnic areas. Fishermen can also find there dedicated spaces: learn about the regulation at +33 2 43 85 66 01.
Finally, punctuated by woods or ponds, hiking trails drawn on the territory and for some including incursions into neighboring towns or along the Huisne valley allow to combine sporting activity and discovery of the environment and bucolic landscapes. Maps and information on +33 2 72 88 18 81.
In March or April, Palm Sunday, Lions Day. According to a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, riders armed with spears reconstitute the betrayal of Christ by Judas then join the church in procession. Equestrian games take place in the afternoon.
The first Sunday of May, Festival at the edge of Huisne with musical entertainment, flea market, gourmet market...
