The best traffic-free bike rides around Cernay

very nice pond to rest

Its origin would date back to the 10th century, a time when it was only a chapel dedicated to St Thibaut-des-Vignes. It is unknown when and why Saint-Thibault became Saint-Julien. The inhabitants of Coudray then gathered in the priory church of Saint-Martin-au-Val. It was only towards the end of the 14th century that Saint-Julien du Coudray was established as a parish. The church is "a building 26 m long and 8 m wide, made of millstone grit and flint masonry, with a rounded apse, an entrance door of elegant simplicity, a square bell tower, round-arched or segmental-arched windows, all supported by lateral and angular buttresses which are undoubtedly of Romanesque inspiration. Also noteworthy inside, in the choir, is a small round-arched piscina carved into the wall (...)". Over the centuries, this church was damaged and neglected. It became necessary to build a new place of worship. However, between 1998 and 1999, the municipality of Coudray undertook a complete renovation of the structure: framework, roofing, walls, and stained glass. This church, which has never been deconsecrated, is only used for a few gatherings. La Chapelle de Semaine (or Petite chapelle) The parish church, which until 1893 was the "Old Church of Saint-Julien", was located far from the village and was only accessible by a simple path. Abbé Boucher, appointed priest of Coudray in 1842, had the idea of asking the municipal council for "permission to convert a bakehouse, located in the presbytery courtyard, into a chapel which he would undertake at his own expense" to allow him to say his daily mass, without being obliged to brave the bad weather. When in 1893, another church in the heart of the village replaced the "old church" deemed too far away, it no longer had a reason to exist. It became communal heritage in 1905, and was restored by the municipality in 1987.

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.).

Of Romanesque origin, the church, surrounded by a cemetery, has a curious bell tower supported by machicolations and uprights of sandstone, making it one of the most unique in the region. Perhaps it was originally a bell gable, later augmented by a platform supported by these machicolations? In front of the entrance, a small building called a "caquetoire" (a small meeting place) allows the faithful to gather and converse. Inside the church, the furnishings date from the 18th and 19th centuries: a marble high altar and its gray-painted wooden altarpiece (18th century) – a painted wooden altarpiece of St. Joseph (late 18th or early 19th century) an altarpiece for the altar of the Virgin Mary (19th century) a baptismal font in red-veined marble (19th century) a waxed wooden pew (18th century) a waxed wooden choir stall upholstered in velvet paintings: the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Octave Hauser (1839) and the Annunciation (18th century) The stained-glass windows date from 1874. The church and the eclipse A bit of history: The parish, established in the 13th century, was part of the deanery of Courville. The church's patron saint, Luperche or Luperchius, gave his name to the village. We must go back to the 4th century to find the first trace of this saint: At that time, Dacius, governor of the part of Spain that included Catalonia, Aragon, and the Kingdom of Valencia, was one of the most cruel ministers of persecution. Incited by the emperors Diocletian and Maximilian, he had eighteen confessors of Jesus Christ executed in the city of Zaragoza. In their honor, the poet Prudentius wrote hymns, and among these confessors, a certain martyr named Luperche became the patron saint of our church.

At the exit of the village, you will notice the Saint-Aignan church; it was almost entirely rebuilt from 1895 onwards on the foundations of the old church after being destroyed by an unfortunate fire.

According to biblical accounts, the apostle "Saint Jacques" was the first person to be executed for his faith, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, making him an early martyr (blood witness) of Christianity. His tomb in the town named after him, "Santiago de Compostela" (Galicia, Spain), is one of the most famous and important pilgrimage destinations in the world and is often ranked third after Jerusalem and Rome. Yesterday (July 25) was his feast day in the calendar of saints. When this date falls on a Sunday (this was last the case in 2021), the Catholic Church celebrates a special "Holy Year" there (extended by Pope Francis until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic).

The place to take a break in Illiers-Combray.

Very beautiful church from the 15th century with a painted wooden beam ceiling.