Abbatiale Saint-Laon

In 1021, a lord of the court of the Viscount of Thouars, who had a relic of Saint Lô (Laon), bishop of Coutances in the 5th century, wanted to honour this saint by founding a community of four canons on a site on the outskirts of Thouars. The first sanctuary was soon too small because the miracles performed through the saint's relics attracted many pilgrims and donations poured in. A church was therefore built. From the first period, dated from the beginning of the 12th century remain the bell tower, the walls, on which traces of Romanesque windows can be seen. This bell tower was surmounted, from the 15th century, by a Gothic spire which disappeared during a major storm in 1711 and was replaced in the 19th century by a slate roof.