Notre Dame de Sainte Croix is a Catholic church located in the city of Le Mans. For a long time there were quality vineyards, tended by religious orders east of the city. The early church was built in the 6th century by Bertrand. It was first used as a chapel for a makeshift hospice. It was set up as a parish at the end of the 10th century, a period certainly coinciding with the deterioration and the end of the hospice. The church was built on a hill facing west, where remained until its destruction in 1794.
At the beginning of the 1800s the site, then called Notre-Dame de Bel-Air, was comprised a main house with additional buildings and a surrounding property of over 36,000 square meters. In 1832, the site was given as a gift to Father Basil Moreau by Jobbé Delile, an honorary canon of the Cathedral of Le Mans. During his time the church was restored in Neo-gothic style in 1837 and re-inaugurated in 1857. The church was again restored in 1937.
References:The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.