The best road cycling routes around Allonnes

The charm of Nogent le Roi.

According to tradition, the church choir covers the remains of an older building, possibly dating back to the 6th century, which was built to house the saint's body. According to current knowledge, the commune of Saint-Piat (Sanctus Piatus in Latin) officially appeared in 1087, mentioned in a charter of the Nottonville Priory (Eure-et-Loir), on which it depended. The current building was rebuilt during the time of Francis I, as suggested by the date 1535 engraved on two buttresses of the apse and the date 1542 engraved on a piece of wood from the vault. This is according to a study by the SAEL (Eure-et-Loir Archaeological Society). The three-sided apses, the dripstone towers (horizontal members projecting from a wall), and the sculpted roof structures are a testament to the importance of the reconstructions carried out in the department during the 16th century. The church of Saint-Piat is one of them. While the church has not been officially recognized, it nevertheless contains objects that have attracted attention both for their antiquity and quality, but not always for good reason. Their artistic value, far from attracting only religious or aesthetic interest, has also aroused a covetousness that, unfortunately, remains for some of them. Fortunately, those still in place are carefully cared for and offer the curious a story to discover, a beauty to slowly ponder as they progress toward the choir.

On the night of April 2-3, 1903, a terrible fire completely destroyed the church of Saint-Sulpice. The spire, the roof, and all the furnishings—pews, pulpit, woodwork, altars—were consumed; only the walls remained standing. This church, 23.80 m long and 6.90 m wide, built in the shape of a perfect parallelogram with a straight chevet, formerly lit by a triple lancet window, was flanked on the right by a groin-vaulted chapel 6.10 m wide and 5.55 m deep, and on the left by the bell tower, beneath which was once a chapel, also groin-vaulted, but transformed into a sacristy a few years ago. This tower, reached by a stone staircase, was topped by an octagonal timber-framed spire, elegantly crafted and the tallest in the entire region. This church has been remodeled several times, most recently during the reconstruction of the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin in 1764. However, this dates back to the 16th century, as evidenced by the flamboyant ogival window with two mullions, only the top of which was visible, the lower part having been walled up to accommodate the altarpiece. The second window, on the south side, is semicircular with a mullion, adorned with stained-glass windows with figures of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Anne, and Saint Joachim framed in small medallions painted by Mr. Lorin in 1895. The nave wall received windows of the same style at the same time, but the enormous buttresses and the freestone stringcourse with dripstone were erected in the 16th century. The rest of the church, the gable of the façade with its Romanesque window flanked by two barely protruding pillars, the gable of the chevet with its triple lancet arch, protected by a semicircular arch of dressed stone, the entire north wall, also supported by slightly protruding buttresses and adorned with semicircular windows, and the bell tower, date from the late 12th century. The exterior entablature of the chevet was formed of carved corbels with foliage and strange, crude figures (alternating human heads and rams' heads), irrefutable evidence of this ancient origin. The church was consecrated after the 16th-century restoration, and a beautiful consecration stone with trefoiled ends can still be seen. The church's benefactor had his coat of arms carved on a projecting shield on the corner buttress of the façade gable, and inside the seigneurial tier. The destruction of the woodwork revealed two double oval shields on either side of the high altar, surmounted by a marquis's crown and supported by two greyhounds. The dexter shield bears a gules chevron, accompanied at the top by two roses of the same color and at the base by a cross of Lorraine; the sinister shield reveals a wild boar at the base and two flames or thunderbolts at the top. Could these be the arms of Mre Loup de Cosne? These same shields are found in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin in four places and in the sacristy. In the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin, a third shield is also found bearing a standing lion, attached to a shield bearing a wild boar and two flames. In 1623, Loup de Cosne, Lord of Vovelle, had a daughter named Francoyse, baptized in Dammarie; in 1653, Charles de Cosne was lord of Loiville and Mre Mangot, lord of Boncé.

In the village of Houville (parish of the Epiphany), the crypt, closed for decades, was reopened on February 1, 2020. It contains a well and wall paintings dating back to the 12th century. This crypt is therefore an important place in the village's history, a place of pilgrimage to Saint Léger, with a miraculous spring! Houville also saw the conversion of Célestine Paragot at the end of the 17th century, who, with her strong personality, led the villagers to Christ. This village figure encountered Christ while convalescing after a fall, and her conversion attracted many people. The church and presbytery were expanded and decorated, and thus Houville became known as Houville the Saint, or the Island of Sanctity. The village's vocation continued into the 20th century, as the hamlet (now home to 450 people) offered the Lord 8 priests and 8 nuns, one of whom was at the Visitation. During the war, the crypt served as a refuge for the arrival of German troops, as evidenced by the initials HF that François Heurtault inscribed in June 1940.

beautiful church with an imposing facade

The Saint-Germain de Morancez church could date from the 10th century. Its cut stone facade is punctuated by four buttresses framing a portal. This is composed of three concentric arches resting on engaged columns, decorated with capitals. The zigzag decoration of the arches confirms a dating before the 12th century. The occulus surmounting the porch illuminates a semi-circular vaulted nave. This was enlarged with an aisle built much later and where there is an altar dedicated to the Virgin. The furniture remains simple but not without interest with its benches enclosed in painted wood. However, it is worth mentioning a sculpted pulpit from the 18th century. In 1707, the prior-parish priest of Morancez was Nicolas Courvoisier, religious of the Saint-Jean-en-Vallée abbey. A poet, he is notably the author of a Latin ode addressed to the people of Chartres on the death of Paul de Godet des Marais1. He died on May 14, 1742 in Morancez and was buried in the church. (his tombstone remains to be identified.) Although Morancez was a modest parish, in 1851 it benefited from a prestigious gift from Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I, governor of Les Invalides, then in residence at the Château de Gourdez. He offered the church a painting, Moses makes water flow from the rock, painted by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli between 1657 and 1660. This Italian artist had been called to decorate the cabinet called "At the water's edge" of the apartment of Queen Anne of Austria at the Louvre. He created a decor, now dismembered, composed of a set of six paintings devoted to the story of Moses, including the work, classified as a Historic Monument, preserved in our church. Another interesting work which could be attributed to the school of Philippe de Champaigne represents Jesus among the doctors. These two paintings benefited from a restoration in 1998

Bench, greenery, river and shade for a bite to eat or a break.

The Fontaine du Breuil wash house, an essential break ✨