The best road cycling routes around Francourville

very nice pond to rest

This 13th-century portal is an example of pure Gothic style. The quality of the rafter frame forming trusses, with sculpted king posts, should be highlighted. The lord of Prunay, Louis de Billy, was behind its establishment from 1541 to 1547.

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.

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

Unfortunately, the church was not accessible when I visited (mid-September 2024). You could only look in through a gate and the dance of death depictions on the left side were not really visible. In front of them were transparencies with skeleton drawings. Maybe those were the depictions...

Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it was consecrated in 1903. It replaced an old 12th century church, contemporary with a convent of which only the chapel dedicated to the three Marys remains today. It is decorated with stained glass windows by master glassmaker Lorin: three windows (on the right) are dedicated to the appearance of Christ to the Saints Mary and three windows (on the left) to the apparitions of the Virgin at La Salette in the Alps in Isère in 1846. The patron saints of the church, Saint Gervais and Saint Protais appear on the stained glass windows of the choir. In 2003 the centenary of the church was celebrated and in 2004, two glass roofs, made by the Petit workshops of La Bourdinière Saint Loup, were mounted on the second level of the nave: the resurrection of Lazarus and the healing of the paralytic. It preserves an organ from 1892, by the maker Louis Delierre, from Nantes. The church of Mignières receives pilgrims faithful to the three holy Marys of the Gospel (Marie-Jacobé, Marie-Magdeleine and Marie-Salomé) on May 22, July 22 and October 22.

Coming from Berchères la Maingot, Place Pasteur, the farm is on the left, you have to enter the courtyard, and it is again on the left.