Église Notre-Dame-de-Sainte-Croix, Catholic church in Le Mans, France

Église Notre-Dame-de-Sainte-Croix is a neogothic church designed by Abbé Tournesac, its cornerstone blessed in 1842 and the building consecrated in 1857. The facade rises from rough tan and brown stone to a lighter smooth upper section with a triangular gable and small round window; a rose window sits above a row of small arches and a pointed-arch doorway with a glazed tympanum. Inside, a ciborium crowns the main altar, following the model of Dom Guéranger's Solesmes.

A 6th-century chapel founded by Bertrand, later a parish from the late 10th century, stood on a west-facing hill until its destruction in 1794. Basil Moreau received the site in 1832 and renamed it Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix. The neo-gothic church by Abbé Tournesac had its cornerstone blessed on 30 March 1842 and was consecrated on 17 June 1857 by Cardinal Donnet.

The church gives its name to the Sainte-Croix district, which was once a suburb of Le Mans. Since 2014 it has housed the shrine of Basile Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross; his recumbent statue lies in the south transept. The building also preserves three haut-reliefs by Georges Saupique, added after the 1937 reconsecration.

The church sits on a west-facing hill in the Sainte-Croix district and is easy to spot from its elevated position. After serving military purposes, it returned to religious function in 1931 and operates as an active place of worship today.

The church holds the shrine of Basil Moreau since 2014, with his recumbent statue (gisant) in the south transept. Moreau received the site on 24 December 1832 from Jobbé Delile, honorary canon of Le Mans Cathedral, and renamed it Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix. The church was consecrated on 17 June 1857 by Cardinal François Donnet, archbishop of Bordeaux, in the presence of nine other bishops.