Notre-Dame d'Alençon Basilica is a Catholic monument of Gothic architecture located in the pedestrian area of the city center in the Orne department. Built from 1356 during the Hundred Years' War, the religious building was officially erected as a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on August 10, 2009. His decision followed the pilgrimages generated by the beatification, on October 19, 2008, of the couple Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of Thérèse of Lisieux. The future Thérèse of Lisieux received the sacrament of baptism there on January 4, 1873, as evidenced by a contemporary stained-glass window depicting the ceremony.