The best road cycling routes around Ver-Lès-Chartres

very nice pond to rest

The main nave, ending in a semicircular apse, is preceded by a timber-framed porch and opens to the north onto a chapel through a wide archway. The timber-framed bell tower, clearly from the same period as the 17th-century wainscoting, rests on a base spanning the nave. A second nave is covered with quadripartite masonry vaults from different periods. Of a dressed stone tower, only the spiral staircase and the first level remain, built between the 11th and 13th centuries. The side aisle was built in the 14th century and enlarged in the 16th. 1660: Supposed collapse of the tower attached to the nave, of which only the first level remains. 1679: Paneling on the nave and probable construction of the small timber-framed spire. 19th century: Supposed construction of the timber-framed chapel. The church was under the jurisdiction of the chapter of Notre-Dame de Chartres (the chapter's name can be seen on the lock of the small door on the right and is painted on the walls of the capital with stars and the date 1733 L.M.M.P.).

The oldest document mentioning the Church of Saint-Martin in Fresnay-le-Comte is the charter of Renaud de Mouçon, Bishop of Chartres, confirming the possessions of the Abbey of Marmoutier, near Tours. This charter dates only from the last years of the 12th century, but the church's foundation may have already existed at that time. The building comprises two parts of roughly equal size and from different periods. The older part, roughly corresponding to the nave, is of a rather undefined style. The west portal, with its pointed arch devoid of any decoration, may date back to the 12th or 13th century, as may the first window of the nave, on the right. In the north wall, there is a small, walled-up doorway, whose lintel, adorned with an accolade, is no earlier than the 15th century, but the relieving arch above it appears older, perhaps from the 12th century. Half of the church, including almost the entire chancel, is from a more recent period and easily recognizable. The polygonal apse and the windows with their flamboyant tracery of late design indicate the very end of the 15th century. An inscription on one of the chancel's tie beams gives a precise date: In the year 1529, this chancel was completely rebuilt. The statue of the Virgin Mary was baptized during the Mass of October 30, 2021, by Father Pierre Paul. This statue, moved from the Chapel of the Three Marys in Mignières, was restored by Mr. Martial Moulin, a sculptor from Chartres.

This church in Meslay-Le-Vidame, whose architecture reflects the formal language of antiquity, was dedicated to the patron saint of Saint Etienne. He was one of the first seven deacons of the original Jerusalem church and, according to the biblical accounts in the New Testament, the first martyr (martyr) of early Christianity. The church commemorates his death on Boxing Day, December 26th. As the Acts of the Apostles recounts: When Stephen recounted his vision of the open heavens, "And he, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (Chapter 7, Verse 55), the people were so outraged that they drove him out of the city and stoned him.

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.

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...

Thivars is mentioned in 966 in the Chartres cartulary. In the 12th century, the church became the property of Josaphat Abbey. The current church was built in the 16th century: a date of 1545 is engraved on a cherub in the turret. It is a very high construction but very irregular, this comes from the fact that it belongs to several eras: ogival style in the windows, the entrance door is Romanesque (it may be the door of the first Romanesque church) . The choir was formerly separated from the nave by an iron grille which disappeared during the French Revolution. The ceiling has pretty paneling dating from 1645. The two side altars are dedicated: one to Notre Dame des Victoires and the other to Saint Joseph. Among the furniture we can note an interesting painting which represents Our Lord pronouncing on a coin. In 1940, two bombs fell less than 30 m from the church, destroying the stained glass windows on the south side which were replaced by grisailles in 1987. Three pretty stained glass windows light up this church: Nativity stained glass window installed by Mr Campin in 1955 Stained glass windows of the village's patron saints, Saint Radegonde and Saint Hilaire, installed in 1900 and 1987 respectively.

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