Mortagne-au-Perche

Painted on the slope of the hill, Mortagne, now a sub-prefecture, was during the last centuries of the monarchy the administrative capital of the Perche. Not having suffered materially from the cruelties of war, it has been able to preserve its monuments and its architectural riches. Mortagne harbors treasures, humble dwellings clustered in clusters, private mansions, houses with brown and red tiles, dappled with dormer windows. Wrenches of rocaille style windows, forged iron balconies, give its cachet to this inimitable city.

• The convent Saint-François: Founded in 1505, by Marguerite de Lorraine, Duchess of Alençon and Countess of Perche for the Poor Clares. The chapel was completed in 1516. It has carved woodwork from the 17th century. Stone tombstone of Catinat. The cloister, the only one that survives in the Orne, is a delightful place with its covered gallery in cradle resting on robust columns.
• Notre-Dame Church: Reconstructed and enlarged after the Hundred Years War, on the site of the former chapel of Fort Toussaint. The tower, topped with a slate dome around 1620, burned in 1887. Maladroically restored, it collapsed in 1890. Its reconstruction was limited to shelter the clock and the bells. The north portal - "Gate of the Counts" - to the truncated flamboyant gable, offers beautiful carved wings. Inside the church: vault with pendants, woodwork of the eighteenth century, stalls, pulpit, historical stained-glass windows.
• The town hall: The Crestien de Galais hotel, built in the 18th century, was inhabited by Jacques Crestien, captain of the Hunts of the province of Perche. It became the town hall in 1838. Its lounges are preserved, notably the large room of Compagnie aux boiseries Louis XV, which became the office of the Deputy Mayor.
• A must see: Behind the town hall, built in the 18th century, the public garden, with its French-style flowerbeds, offers a splendid panorama of the Percheron countryside.
• The sundials are a curiosity of Mortagne. No fewer than 27 have been listed. 7 are visible. Book of sundials 2 €.
• The Henri IV house, from the end of the XVIth, would have sheltered the sleep "of the Vert Galant".
• The door of Saint-Denis of the twelfth century, the ramparts, ancient stronghold.
• The Alain Memorial Museum (rue du Portail Saint-Denis). On the floor of the House of the Counts of the Perche, a permanent exhibition retraces the main stages of the life of the Moroccan philosopher Alain (1868-1951): manuscripts, comments, drawings, musical scores, family photos, It was mobilized from 1914 to 1917. Inside the tower, his cabinet of work Vésinet was reconstituted with its furniture and its objects-witnesses. Closed at the moment.
• The Percheron Museum (rue du Portail Saint-Denis). The Saint-Denis portal (12th-16th centuries) houses collections of local history, including some percherons, medals by Jules Chaplain, tableware, souvenirs of the Brotherhood of Christ's charity, Gallo-Roman mosaics. The museum is currently closed.
• Old houses (XVIth, XVIIth, XVIIIth).
• Cloister of the hospital (XVIth century).
• Circuit of Patrimony, arrow circuit, descriptive panels on each monument.
• Walking tours - Tourist circuits - Cycling tours.
• Walks in the forest.

• In March, the 3rd Sunday: Boudin fair and fair.
• From the end of June to the middle of July: the Mortagne music.
• Last Sunday in September: car show and old motorcycles.
• First weekend of October: Alain days.
• Last Sunday in November: tree fair.
• First Sunday in December: Christmas market.

• From 19 may to 17 june 2023
• 7, rue Sainte-Croix, Galerie Black Box 61
• Exhibition of works by Florence Kami, Newt and Isabelle Petit. - Gallery open Friday and Saturday from 10am to 7pm.

• From 2 june to 31 august 2023
• Médiathèque, Place du Général de Gaulle
• Marie-Françoise Croufer started painting five years ago with O. de Rivaz in his workshop at the Maison pour Tous. She learned a great deal there, copying the great painters to begin with. This encouraged her to unleash her creativity. Her paintings are a little enigmatic and symbolic ; the tension you sense in them is a call to live differently. - Exhibition on view until the end of summer, during media library opening hours.

• From 6 to 11 june 2023
• Ville de Mortagne-au-Perche
• Exhibition of paintings by Dominique Chauvin. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:30am to 12:30pm and 2pm to 6:30pm.

• On 10 june 2023
• 12, place du Général de Gaulle, Café la Civette
• The association Vivrécrire welcomes Julie Michalowiez for their first meeting. Hosted by Sarah Poulain. - In her first book, "Les Promesses", Julie Michalowicz transports us across centuries and borders. She offers us a fascinating dive into 16th century France, a painful leap into the 18th century, the discovery of 20th century England, and presents us with the dilemmas of the 20th century. We follow the journey of four women who fight for their rights in an oppressive patriarchal society. From obscurantism to suffragettes, Iris, Isaure, Irene and Ines remind us of the importance of the struggle for equality and rise to the same promise : to be free. - In "La mère qu'on veut voir danser", Julie Michalowicz explores the complexity of motherhood. At the dawn of their forties, Perrine and Vivien aspire to the simplest of loves. When their paths meet, their feelings are obvious, and their life, a long quiet river. But when Perrine becomes pregnant, everything is shaken up. Worried that he will no longer recognize the woman he loves, Vivien decides to help her in spite of herself, even if it means seeing the unsuspected difficulties of motherhood emerge. - This meeting will be an opportunity to discuss with the author about her career, her inspirations and her projects.

• On 10 june 2023
• 23, rue Ferdinand de Boyères, Le Carré du Perche
• The Boudingues organize a music festival. - Fast food and refreshments on site. Free entrance.

• On 17 june 2023
• 23, rue Ferdinand de Boyères, Le Carré du Perche
• The Little Conservatory - Choreography Fathy Bouchaïb - I dance, you dance, we dance.. - Since the beginning of time, man has expressed his emotions by moving his body in rhythm or not. Because dance is part of life, it tells of the sorrows, the joys, the victories or the defeats - Little rat of the Opera, king of hip-hop or salsa, classical ballet, contemporary show, cluber… The dance, the rhythm, the movement vibrates in each of us. - But what is dance ? Two feet, two arms, ten fingers, a head, a look and much more. It is the body that moves : all at the same time or all separately. There are so many ways to dance, to express oneself, to move ! On one leg or on the head ? In a tutu or in pants ? On pointe, in tap shoes or in sneakers ? Alone or with two, five or a hundred people ? We have been dancing since we could walk. We dance to communicate, to celebrate, to rebel, not to be silent. We dance for ourselves, or for others. A gesture is worth all the words. Come and hear what the students of the Petit Conservatoire have to say. Open your eyes and let yourself be won over by the movement, by the dance.

• On 18 june 2023
• Eglise Notre-Dame
• It is a great joy for us to come to Mortagne-au-Perche to share our love of this music. Joniece Jamison is certainly one of the best interpreters of this magical repertoire. She has been singing spirituals since she was a child. At the age of five, she started singing in the choirs of Washington, D.C. She lives and feels this repertoire as only black Americans can. She is the spiritual sister of Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Mahalia Jackson. Spiritual is an appropriate word because her concerts are acts of faith, a deep faith that allows her to transcend herself and leave her listeners alternately on the verge of tears or in a frenzy that will make them go around the church dancing and singing with her. One thing is certain, you will remember this concert for a long time. She returns to the repertoire that she has never really stopped singing. After an international career that allowed her to collaborate with the greatest artists, from Eurythmics and Elton John to Johnny Hallyday, Goldman or Balavoine among others, without forgetting her famous duet with François Feldman "Joue pas" 1st in the top 50 for almost a year as well as her numerous tours with the show Star 80. - This exceptional concert will take place in the church Notre Dame de Mortagne. It is the result of a Gospel workshop where the fifty or so choristers of this exceptional group were able to discover Gospel music as it is sung in the United States in black American churches. A real bath of youth with two high level speakers : Pascal Liberge and Joniece Jamison whose experience and authenticity allowed the choristers to understand the true soul of this divine music. After a lot of rehearsal, we have come to present you the fruit of this work. Joniece and the choir will be accompanied by Pascal liberge on keyboards. See you at Notre Dame for a moment of eternity ?

• On 21 june 2023
• 22, place du Général de Gaulle, Salle des fêtes
• To celebrate the Fête de la Musique, the Chabarok group will perform a show of Belarusian dances. 33 young people and 4 musicians from the Minsk Youth Palace. Free admission.

• From 24 june to 17 september 2023
• Centre-ville
• Within the framework of the summer festival, the city of Mortagne-au-Perche organizes an exhibition, to be discovered in various places of the city : - - Crypt Saint-André - - Saint-François cloister - - Valley room - - Common entrance to the cinema and the media library - - Garden of the town hall - - Place du Général de Gaulle - Opening on Saturday June 24 at 6 pm.

• On 24 june 2023
• 23, rue Ferdinand de Boyères, Le Carré du Perche
• Love and death : two apparently opposite poles to which Franz Liszt, an exceptional virtuoso pianist and composer inspired as much by literature as by poetry, devoted a large part of his works - Love and death reunited in the drama of Tristan and Isolde by Wagner, of which Liszt will write a moving and ecstatic version for piano entitled Isoldes Liebestod (literally : Isolde's Death of Love). - Love in death with this work inspired by Dante evoking hell and the tragic love of Paolo and Francesca - And then the consolation : the mystical component in Liszt which comes to soften the yoke imposed to our existences. Mysticism that Scriabin will seek to sublimate in his search for a cosmic language. - It is the great pianist Claire-Marie Le Guay, a wonderful Lisztian whose recording devoted to this composer has been unanimously acclaimed by the critics, who, with her incomparable virtuosity but above all with the depth of her inspired interpretations, will offer us this magnificent program - Program : - Liszt (Cantique d'Amour, Funérailles, Consolations, - The Death of Isolde, Dream of Love, After a Reading from Dante) - Scriabin (Etudes, Vers la Flamme) - Festival program : https://www.musicalesdemortagne.fr

• Basilica of La Chapelle-Montligeon.
• Abbaye de la Trappe in Soligny-la-Trappe.
• Manoir de Courboyer in Nocé.
• Many hiking tours in the Perche (leaflets available at the Tourist Office of Mortagne-au-Perche).