The church of Notre Dame de Rigny is located a few kilometers outside the village of Rigny-Ussé, France, made most famous by it's chateau, which inspired Perrault's fairy-tale of Sleeping Beauty.

The present church was constructed in the 11'th century on the foundations of two older churches that date as far back as the 8th century AD.

During the Middle Ages, the parish church was one of the many stops on the main pilgrimage route from Tours to Santiago de Compostella in Spain.In the 15th century, the church was also visited often for mass by King Louis XI, who owned the surrounding forest of Chinon and who regularly hunted in the area.

For most of it's existence, the village of Rigny was separate from the village of Ussé. With gradual migration over the years, however, the two villages merged, and the church, formerly the center of the community, became more and more isolated.

During the 19th century, the parish built a new church more centrally located in the now-combined village of Rigny-Ussé, and Notre Dame de Rigny was left to fall into ruin.

In 1983, the church was acquired by the ASSOCIATION NOTRE DAME DE RIGNY and the process of preservation and restoration was begun..

NOTRE DAME DE RIGNY

Notre Dame de Rigny as it exists today.

BELLTOWER

Romanesque Belltower with a more recent Gothic window in the transept.