FRANCE	FRANCE
région: Normandie	Normandy
département: 61, Orne

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Passais is situated at an elevation of 164 m in the arrondissement Alençon of the département Orne in the réacute;gion Normandie (Normandy) of Northern France. Passais has a population of about 900 and is the main community of the canton of the same name.

In 1466 duke Jean II of Alençon decided to clear this part of the forest of Passais. In 1475 King Louis XI founded a new parish which he named Conception-Notre-Dame-en-Passais. The church was consecrated in 1480. In 1852 a pilgrimage was founded at the chapel Notre Dame de l'Oratoire. The name Passais-la-Conception had fallen out of use after the medieval times, but was reintroduced in 1856 when the pilgrimage site had already become very popular. Today the name of the municipality is again Passais, but the old name survives as name for the community of municipalities of Bocage de Passais-la-Conception which corresponds to the canton Passais.