The best traffic-free bike rides around Boulay-Les-Barres

The Saint-Martin church dates from the 11th century. It was ravaged and burned by the Protestants, then restored at the end of the 16th century. It still retains remains of the Romanesque style, particularly in the nave which was rebuilt on the same plan, with stones and other debris from the fire.

After an unrealized project by the architect Plisson in 1861, church built in 1866, based on plans by Ricard, diocesan architect; with reuse of the previous 13th century building (bell tower)

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 ruins that you can see here are the remains of a hunting lodge of François I destroyed during the Revolution. Only elements of the chapel and a dovecote tower remain.

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 first church, dating from the 13th century, was partly demolished and remodeled several times over the centuries. Placed under the name of the Most Holy Trinity, it took its current form at the end of the 15th century, but was most certainly rebuilt in the 19th century. Extensive renovation work was undertaken at the start of the 21st century.

The ruins of Rondonneau Abbey are located in Huisseau-sur-Mauves, near Orléans. Founded in the 12th century by the Cistercian order, the abbey was a place of prayer and study until the French Revolution, when it was sold and partly demolished. You can still admire the remains of the Gothic church, the cloister, the refectory and the dormitory, as well as the gardens and ponds that surround it.