L'église Saint-Martin

The church dates from the 19th century and was inaugurated in 1850. It was the first neo-Gothic rural church in the département. It is under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours.

Evangelisation in Pays de Retz

The evangelisation of the region was the work of Martin de Vertou in the 6th century.
The parish was created in Carolingian times at the expense of Le Clion.
At the beginning of the 12th century, the bishop of Nantes, Benoit, confirmed the possession of the church of Chauvé to the abbot of Redon, Justin.

It was certainly under the influence of the Benedictines of Redon that the cult of Saint Martin de Vertou was replaced by that of Saint Martin of Tours.
The Augustinians then took over.

The previous church was burnt and ransacked during the Revolution.
For the Revolutionaries, religious heritage was both the embodiment of ancient power and the support of superstition; as such, it had to be destroyed or made to lose its sacred dimension. The Catholic Church, deprived of its monopoly, was closely subordinate to the State. First of all, it is economically impoverished and subjugated: confiscation of its patrimony, abolition of ecclesiastical taxes...
On the other hand, because it was sacred, this heritage was considered to be alive.
It was Joseph Guihal, superior of the ecclesiastical school in Chauvé (minor seminary), who became the parish priest and undertook the construction of a new church in the middle of the 19th century to replace the old one, which had become beyond repair.
The construction of the new church was inspired by that of Saint-Nicolas in Nantes.
The foundation stone was laid on 10 April 1849. The church was inaugurated on Saint Martin's Day in 1850.

Remarkable historical and religious features
Its magnificent portal is well worth a visit.
A number of religious artefacts are also of interest:

a pulpit sculpted in 1862 by a young man from Chauvé, Pierre Potet, a sculptor from Nantes who created the high altar in the church of Sainte-Anne de Vue
19th century banners
a green silk liturgical vestment, listed in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments.

During the Second World War, during the "Pocket of Saint-Nazaire", the church was bombed by the Germans. Its bell tower, which served as a watchtower, was largely destroyed by a shell on 3 January 1945.

Mass times

To consult the mass times for the parish of Saint-Vital en Retz, click here.
The parish of Saint-Vital en Retz comprises 5 churches: Frossay, La Sicaudais, Saint-Père-en-Retz, Saint-Viaud and Chauvé.


Did you know?
Next to the church, in the cemetery, is the priests' square. Dating from the early 19th century, this monument features busts of the parish priests of Chauvé.