Bierné-les-Villages is a commune of Mayenne, Pays de la Loire region, 13 km s 39; east of Château-Gontier, on the borders of the department of Sarthe.
It was created on January 1, 2019 following the merger of Bierné (679 inhabitants), Argenton-Notre-Dame (210 inhabitants), Saint-Laurent-des-Mortiers (184 inhabitants) and Saint-Michel-de-Feins, counting so some 1250 inhabitants.
The territory of an area of 47 km² has a rural and green character, crossed by several rivers including the Béron tributary of the Mayenne. The quietly hilly terrain culminates at 101 m altitude.
From the Middle Ages and during the Ancien Régime, Bierné and the now associated villages are divided between several small seigneuries belonging to the county of Anjou and judicially of the senechaussee of Château-Gontier.
In 1793 and 1794, tragic episodes of wars between Republicans and Chouans took place in and around Bierne, the latter having chosen several castles of the territory as strategic bases or retreat and cache.
It remains from this past testimonies in terms of heritage. In a landscape now appeased and the environment preserved, Bierné-les-Villages is thus a pleasant step for lovers of green tourism.
A circuit in the form of discovery of the historical heritage of the new town, over the villages that compose it, can begin with Argenton-Notre-Dame and its Romanesque church (for its parts the old). There is a bell tower rising from the cross of the transept and inside, are housed altarpieces of the seventeenth century and paneling of the nineteenth.
We then go on the road to Coudray where was raised a small sanctuary erected with stones of the old castle of Bossivière, which did not resist the ravages of time (Renaissance elements completed a main building yet rebuilt in the eighteenth) and the Revolution. The building was the scene of a tragedy in 1793 and 1794: the owner and one of his daughters were sentenced to death and executed for harboring refractory priests (who did not want to take an oath to the new power). The modest monument commemorates these "martyrs".
Still on Argenton, stand the castle of the Fautraise (rebuilt in the eighteenth and restored in the nineteenth in a fairly modern style), and that of the Sionnière, former stronghold of the house of the Fourbarbes. The castle was remodeled in the seventeenth century in a classical style, the main building is flanked by pavilions and surrounded by gardens overlooks an imposing stoop. These properties are private and can not be visited.
On the village of Bierné, the castle of La Barre (beware, there are several castles of the same name in the region), on the road to Gennes-sur-Glaize, was rebuilt in the early seventeenth century in a classical style. The previous building was erected on the foundations of a first medieval castle, the Guénaudière. A den of Protestants, it was owned by Colbert and has a chapel where is buried Catherine de Chivré, goddaughter of Catherine de Bourbon, sister of Henry IV. Chivre's family became the owner again after Colbert. The noble silhouette of the estate, which can not be visited, is visible from the road.
In Saint-Laurent-des-Mortiers, the Château de Noirieux is the pride of the village. If the current buildings date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was the seat of a prosperous stronghold in the Middle Ages, surrounded by a vast area (farmland, woods, orchards, ancillary buildings). Partially protected as historical monuments, the castle which was not spared by the troubles of the Terror is the subject of a restoration undertaken by its new owners. It is open to the public free of charge from August 1st to mid-September at park level only. But one can from the outside admire the facades and roofs of the castle and the orangery. Finally, the Saint-Laurent church of Romanesque origin also deserves a detour.
Then place to recreation "nature". A visit is possible at the Brunetières farm, specialized in dairy and grain production, where the owners like to explain to the public the interest of sustainable and organic farming. Renewable energies are also made explicit. Information on +33 2 43 09 28 46.
With the Ecuries du Plessis, these verdant landscapes of the southern Mayenne are pleasant to discover along the way during an equestrian hike. Information on +33 2 43 06 07 30.
Bierné-les-Villages which has protected areas for their ecological interest, fauna and flora, bucolic stream banks, wooded plots, is finally suitable for many hiking. Maps and information on +33 2 43 70 42 74.
