Saint-Laurent-des-Mortiers combines two hiking routes with architectural features spanning several centuries. For planning your trip, you can consider different options: a route connecting three named places, a shorter circuit, and a church and manor houses with precisely dated features. So it is not just a question of choosing a route, but also of which historical traces interest you.
Hiking routes of different lengths
The Circuit des trois villages connects Saint-Laurent-des-Mortiers with Saint-Michel-de-Feins and Argenton-Notre-Dame. According to the municipal route description, it is 17.5 kilometres long and presents no particular difficulties. Signage and trail conditions may change; check the route details locally before setting out.
The Circuit de la Roche Thoreau is a 5.58-kilometre circular route in Saint-Laurent-des-Mortiers. It is rated easy; the approximate duration is one hour and 40 minutes. The start and finish are at the church car park.
At 5.58 kilometres, the Roche Thoreau circuit is less than a third as long as the 17.5-kilometre Circuit des trois villages. The routes also differ in form: one is a circular route, while the other connects three places. This gives you two specific criteria to compare when choosing: the length of the route and its course.
On the Circuit des trois villages, a shaded path leads to the Étang du Douai. Access conditions may vary seasonally. If the Étang is an important destination for you, take this condition into account when planning and check the current conditions before your visit.
Church and masonry
The church of Saint-Laurent-des-Mortiers dates from the 11th century. At least two sections of its south exterior wall feature herringbone masonry, characteristic of buildings from the early Middle Ages. The masonry feature and the dating of the church provide different points of reference: one dates the building, while the other describes a construction technique on the south exterior wall.
Manor-house history
The Logis seigneurial de la Juquaise is a manor house dating from the mid-18th century and is privately owned. The 19th-century chapel in the manor house contains funerary monuments from the second half of the 17th century. The chapel and the monuments therefore refer to different periods: the monuments are older than the chapel in which they are housed.
The Château de Noirieux is also privately owned. The façades and roofs of the château and its orangery were listed as historic monuments by decree dated 11 April 1990. The date 11 April 1990 refers to the decree listing them; the dates given for the church and the manor house, by contrast, refer to when they were built. The dates mentioned therefore concern different things: construction dates, the dating of the funerary monuments, and the decree listing the buildings.
Discover more destinations: Ernée, Pontmain, Châtillon-Sur-Colmont, Ménil, Coudray, Larchamp, Villiers-Charlemagne, Hardanges
For the broader travel overview: Mayenne.
