Basilica of Notre-Dame de Montligeon

The founder Abbé Buguet was called the 'traveling salesman for souls in Purgatory' because he traveled across Europe, the USA, and Canada to raise funds for the basilica's construction. The building materials came from distant locations: sand from the Loire River, white limestone from Charente and Poitou, and granite from Alençon and Brittany, all transported by rail and then 6 kilometers by Percheron horse teams.

The original design included an 80-meter central lantern tower at the transept crossing, which would have made it even more imposing. However, engineers discovered the foundations couldn't support such weight, so the tower was never built. This explains why the roofline appears somewhat incomplete compared to the ambitious original plans.

Unlike famous pilgrimage sites such as Lourdes or Fatima, Montligeon was not founded on any miracle or apparition. It arose purely from Abbé Buguet's personal grief after his brother was killed by a falling church bell in 1876, followed by his two nieces dying from the trauma of witnessing the accident. His question 'What happened to their souls?' became the spiritual foundation for this unique sanctuary.