The best traffic-free bike rides around Varzay

Courcoury is a natural island surrounded by the Charente and Seugne rivers, giving it a unique landscape setting between marshes and waterways, conducive to biodiversity and outdoor activities. It is also the only village in Charente-Maritime to have been awarded 4 stars by the "Villes et villages étoilés" label, recognizing its efforts to reduce light pollution through intelligent and environmentally friendly public lighting.

The Gallo-Roman amphitheater of Sainte, also called the Arena of Saintes, is an elliptical monument built between 40 and 50 AD, probably during the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius. It measures approximately 126 meters by 102 meters and could accommodate between 12,000 and 15,000 spectators, making it one of the largest and oldest amphitheaters in Gaul. Located in a natural valley called the "Arènes valley," it takes advantage of the topography to limit construction work, with stands backing onto the hill. The site has two monumental gates, the "Gate of the Living" to the east and the "Gate of the Dead" to the west, and has been the subject of a major restoration project since 2021 to preserve this exceptional heritage. Accessible on foot from the city center, it offers an immersion in Roman history with an educational trail and activities for families

I really enjoyed this ride. I’m 46, I did it on a 40 year old road bike, it’s more suited to a cyclocross bike!

It is an absolutely beautiful village.

Small town with a special charm along the Charente.

The Basilica of Saint-Eutrope de Saintes is a true masterpiece of Romanesque art and amazes with its two superimposed choirs and its crypt, one of the largest in Europe.

The Saint-Quentin Church dates from the 12th century, but it bears numerous traces of constructions or partial reconstructions carried out in the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1610, a canon from Saintes provided the funds to redo the cover. His weapons appear on a keystone. On a strong square stump, erected to the left of the nave, rises an octagonal tower pierced on its third floor with a large window on each side and, on the smaller upper floor, small openings in the form of loopholes, all topped with an acute gable roof with eight spindles. The northern corner of the stump is accompanied by a square staircase tower at the bottom, cylindrical at the top and ending in a stone pyramid covered with jagged scales. The western facade, supported at the corners by two powerful buttresses, is decorated with a Romanesque portal with four semi-circular arches. The keys are bare. The three-bay nave has an eight-pointed pointed vault. The arches rest on four half-columns without capitals. The south wall is pierced with three Romanesque windows devoid of ornaments, the north wall with two smaller ones. A slight constriction of the nave is highlighted by two square pilasters against which are attached engaged columns which support a third-point arch. The recessed angles of the pilasters are garnished with smaller columns ending in hooked capitals. The third bay of the nave has a semi-circular opening on the left giving access under the bell tower to a porch communicating with the outside via a small square door. A large square and vaulted ossuary exists under this porch. The choir and the apse have pointed vaults. The left wall of the choir is pierced by a large bay window opening onto a stately chapel, itself vaulted in an ogive shape. The apse is lit by three semi-circular windows whose arches are simply decorated with a torus. A few meters from the north wall is a 15th century Hosannière cross.

The Saint-Savinien church is a Romanesque style building built between the 12th and 13th centuries. The current sanctuary succeeds an ancient priory, cited in a charter of 1039, of which no vestige remains. The adjoining square is pleasantly decorated with statutes representing the apostles.