Manoir de Belligan

Belligan manor lies to the west of the town of Sainte Gemmes sur Loire and south of Angers, about four kilometres from the castle. It stands on the left bank of the Maine river, north of the confluence between the Maine and the Loire. The manor was built in the first half of the 15th century. Various research investigations have brought to the fore the relationship between Belligan and King René, following the discovery of the mural frescoes that adorn two of the rooms in the house. However, the Manor is not thought to have been intended for the King but for his daughter Yolande d’Anjou, the wife of Frederick (Ferry) II, Count of Vaudémont. The frescoes were found beneath several layers of whitewash in 1942, two years after the acquisition of the house by the Angers industrialist Paul Justeau. It is to Mrs Pré, then curator of Laval museum, whom we owe the discovery and then the restoration of the latter, believed by her to date from the end of the 15th century. Given the exceptional state of conservation of the frescoes, the walls of these two rooms were classified as Historic Monuments under the Furnishings category, in February 1948. The Manor itself was listed on the French Supplementary Historic Monument List in June 1988. The manor is privately owned and is inhabited; only the grounds and garden are open for visit.