Description
Until the 18th century, this square served as a parish cemetery, while the Hôtel-Dieu cemetery for the poor was located nearby, on Place de la Paix. The procession of the Blessed Sacrament—known as the “Coronation in Angers”—concluded at Place du Tertre Saint-Laurent on the Feast of Corpus Christi. In 1878, an imposing Neo-Gothic altarpiece—replacing a Romanesque oratory—was unveiled to mark the arrival of the procession, four hours after its departure from the cathedral. Opposite this altar stand the Grenier Saint Jean—former granaries, now converted into a reception hall—as well as the cellars of the former Saint-Jean Hospital, the site of the induction ceremony for the Sacavins, promoters of Anjou wines.
