Attractions and Places To See around Guillonville - Top 7

The Sainte Christine church represents a heritage of the rural and religious world characteristic of Beauce, the "breadbasket" of France since the Middle Ages. The Romanesque nave dates from the 12th century and was given a bell tower in the 18th century. The spire then peaked at 28 meters high, visible from afar from the surrounding countryside. In 1835, a hurricane damaged the roof of the bell tower. In 1893, lightning ignited the spire which burned almost entirely. The traces are still visible today. It would take almost 25 years for the church to regain its bell tower, reduced by half to 17 meters in height. The heritage to be restored is in line with the many religious buildings in this area such as the Saint Sébastien church in Baignolet, listed as a Historic Monument.

Formerly, the church was the presentation of the abbot of Bonneval because the Saint-Florentin abbey had a priory in Cormainville. A walled arcade, still visible to the south of the choir, represents an ancient communication between the church and the priory. The building was registered as a historic monument in 1927.

The Saint André church (13th-15th-16th centuries) In the 7th century, the Benedictine abbey of Bonneval created a priory-curate. Its existence is confirmed by a bull from Pope Gregory second half of the 16th century. In 1793 the church was desecrated and transformed into wine and spirits warehouses. In 1801, the church was returned to worship and changed diocese: from the diocese of Chartres, to which it belonged before the Revolution, it passed to the diocese of Orléans, notably for reasons of distance: Chartres is 48 km from Patay then that Orléans is only 27 km away. The church is 30 m long and 17 m wide. The oldest parts are located near the large porch (13th century). One of the pillars of the nave is decorated with a vestige of Danse Macabre from the mid-15th century. A small masonry door on the right communicated with the old priory, of which ruins remain to the south of the church. The choir dates from the 14th century; the apse wall was decorated with paintings at the end of the 19th century, the chapels were then redeveloped and equipped with new stained glass windows. The keystones of the large nave were made from casts taken from the figurines which adorn the Thesis Room of the University of Orléans, built in 1411. The bell tower, located to the north of the choir, would be an old watchtower. Its pinnacles and eight openings were made after the Wars of Religion. The four bells were melted in 1868. The largest was cracked by a Prussian shell in 1870 and was recast in 1871. Since that year, Ernestine (809 kg, 1 m 12 in diameter at the base, sounding the F), Gabrielle (550 kg, 0.981 m in diameter, sounding the ground), Anne (398 kg, 0.573 m in diameter) and Marie (222 kg, 0.724 m in diameter, sounding the C) give rhythm to the daily life of the small town of Patay, old Beauceron railway junction. On August 15, 1944, an ammunition train was blown up at Patay station. The station was blown up, except for the carriage shed, and all the windows in the town were shattered. Luckily, a providential storm limited the damage. The only two stained glass windows that survived the explosion are those on the right side aisle which date from 1930 and relate the communion of Joan of Arc in the Patay church in 1429. The church was listed as a Historic Monument in 1925 by decree of October 6, 1925.

The Moulin de Lignerolles is one of the last pivotal windmills in the Loiret department. Built in 1848, this wooden mill belonged to Louis-Joseph Soulas, famous painter and director of the Orléans School of Fine Arts. You can admire the restored mill and its ingenious mechanism, as well as the panoramic view of the plain. The mill is open to the public on Sundays from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and also hosts various events throughout the year, such as a flea market, concerts and exhibitions. Visiting the Moulin de Lignerolles is an excellent way to discover the heritage and charm of the Beauceron countryside.

The Cambray orangery is part of the Cambray estate acquired by François Lambert, squire and adviser to the king, auditor in his chamber of accounts, on March 28, 1575 from the nobleman of Oinville, lord of Puiset. The place called Cambray, Combarius under the Romans, was to be a camp. Combrée also means "bushy places", or Cambray is located along the Conie, bordered by reedbeds. The 2 wings of the rear facade were built at the end of the 17th century, beginning of the 18th century by Jacques Lambert, private master of water and forests of the Duchy of Orléans. We note that they were built after the other parts of the castle, with a different aspect of construction, stone on the one hand and bricks around the windows on the other.