The best road cycling routes around Coudray-Au-Perche

The construction of the church of Coudray en Perche dates back to the 12th century, but the 16th century saw its enlargement by the addition of a higher choir with a stone vault. The interior is distinguished by the nave's inverted ship-hull structure with its painted ceiling and four equally painted beautiful beams. Also noteworthy are the stone baptismal fonts with their scaly wooden lid, which bears a sculpted angel's head. All the windows were remodeled as was often the custom in the Renaissance. In the 19th century, a gallery was built for the children of the sisters' school. Above, admire the stained glass window "Let the little children come to me." The opening of the chancel window led to the modification of the main altarpiece, due to the generosity of the Prince of Henin, owner of the Château de Montgraham. The pretty stained glass window, which thus descends into the middle of the altarpiece, relates to the story of the church's patron saint: it is a depiction of Jesus handing the keys to Saint Peter.

The church of Saint-Georges de Souancé is a vast edifice 34 m long. Built in the 16th century, perhaps on an older edifice, it was remodelled several times in the 19th century: notably in 1862 with the addition of a sacristy and a small chapel, while in 1894 the openings in the nave were enlarged and the choir vault was redone. The plan of the church consists of a nave of four bays, a choir bay of the same width, and a pentagonal apse. The bell tower, of square plan, is connected by a narrow passage to the nave. The sacristy, built in the 19th century, communicates with the choir bay; finally, the adjoining chapel opens onto the right part of the apse. The exterior silhouette of the edifice, situated on a steep slope, is dominated by the pointed gable of the apse. The bell tower, 21 m high, is topped by a four-sided roof. The first two levels could date from the 13th century, as suggested by the thickness of its walls, the arrangement of the slightly projecting buttresses, the narrow arched windows, long since blocked up. A strongly projecting band externally marks the separation of these two levels. Only the last storey, which houses the bells, is pierced by high windows; it is built slightly set back from the base of the tower, the setback being highlighted by a stone chamfer. The gable of the west facade, slightly less high than that of the choir, has, like it, a very pointed profile. It is finished with a rondel and crochets. The flamboyant-style portal is of a fairly common design: the depressed arch, flanked by two pilasters, is surmounted by a volute with acanthus leaves. A pointed arch window with two lancets opens in the gable wall, in the same axis as the portal. Two thick corner buttresses were probably built in the 16th century. The Count of Souancé states that the windows opened in the side walls last century replaced older semi-circular windows. Inside the edifice, the nave is covered with a wooden ceiling, referred to as "bardeaux" at the beginning of the century, while the 16th-century choir is vaulted with ogival cross vaults. The study of the stained glass windows and the coats of arms of the Le Breton, lords of Vilandry, the Souancé and Montdoucet, which appear on the keystones of the first two bays of the choir, seem to establish that the construction, begun around 1520, was completed before 1542. The stained glass windows of the choir tell the life of Saint George, patron saint of the church. After being subjected to poorly documented dismantling, they were reassembled in disorder during the 19th century. However, classified in 1907, they were re-leaded in 1923, a restoration that justified the award in 1926 of a prize of 5,000 F granted by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres from the Pellechot legacy. The Count of Souancé, a correspondent of this Academy, requested and obtained, in 1930, the inscription of the choir and bell tower of the church in the supplementary inventory, then, in 1935, the protection of the facade and of the wooden ceiling covering the nave. This protection was justified by the desire to prevent ill-conceived restorations from compromising the work that had just been completed by the architect of the Historical Monuments, Maunoury. The Count of Souancé recalled the unfortunate interventions that had previously been carried out in the edifice: widening of the nave windows, opening of reinforced concrete dormer windows in the tower roof, and, even more serious, the removal of the wall paintings uncovered in 1874, during the change of the altar. La Sauvegarde de l'Art français granted in 2002 a contribution of €7,000 for the sanitation works of the edifice and for the restoration of the bell tower. These works had been deferred for six years.

In the Middle Ages, Saint-Avit-au-Perche was a priory of the abbey of Saint-Calais, founded by Avit's companion. Today's church dates from the very beginning of the 12th century. It consists of a five-bay nave ending in a semicircular apse. It is covered with chestnut shingles. Several original windows remain; others have been reworked (including the first window, on the north side). This can be seen in the shape of the keystones. A walled-up side door to the south can be seen from the outside. It has an enormous mitre lintel. Inside, it has been transformed into a niche housing Our Lady of Lourdes. The apse is flanked by projecting buttresses. Those at the corners of the façade are from the 15th century. The western portal in a pointed arch is a 15th-century renovation that was completely redone at the end of the 20th century.

The Saint-Lubin church, built on a sloping site, is a vast building with juxtaposed constructions, bearing witness to renovations and additions up to the 19th century, the oldest distinguished by the presence of grison, the most recent by limestone and flint. The sanctuary was ceded in 1077 by the monks of Saint-Denis de Nogent-le-Rotrou to the monks of the Saint-Père de Chartres abbey. Built in the 11th-12th century, the nave extended by a semi-circular apse is the oldest part of the church, in Romanesque style. In the thickness of the north walls of the nave are still visible the grison bonds which bear witness to the original openings. The building was considerably enlarged in the 15th and 16th centuries by the construction of a large transept, formed of two chapels, and a south aisle forming an alignment of gables attached to the slopes decorated with leafy motifs and finished with chimeras. The construction of the north aisle, just begun, was not finished. On the outside, on the west wall of the chapel, we can see the beginning of a first bay (stone arch and walls removed that remained unfinished). On the gable of the north transept, the walled door can be seen from the pointed arch and the ornate pinnacles, characteristic of the end of the 15th century. In the center, two animals present a coat of arms. On each side of the door, niches with canopies once housed statues. Above, we can still see a coat of arms presented by two bearded figures and probably surmounted by God the Father. According to local tradition, all or part of the extensions were due to the generosity of Florimont Robertet, who owned the barony of Brou from 1509 until his death in 1527, and it was because of this that the work was interrupted. Occupied by the revolutionaries, the building became a ten-day temple in 1794; it was finally returned to worship in 1802. Burnt down by lightning in 1813, the upper part of the bell tower, which was a slender spire, was replaced by the construction of a square limestone tower pierced with louvers. On the southern part of the bell tower, a turret provides access to the bells. In the southern part of the nave, a door, now blocked and highlighted by a basket-handle arch topped with a pinnacle, provided access to the cemetery that once surrounded the church. The building can boast of having preserved very uniform oak furniture, most of which was made in the second half of the 18th century.

From its source to its confluence with the Ozanne, the Sainte-Suzanne covers 19.2 km and crosses 5 communes. From upstream to downstream: Authon-du-Perche; Beaumont-les-Autels; Coal pits; Les Altars-Villevillon; A glass.

the Saint-André church dates from the 11th century; it was a priory then dependent on the abbey of St.-Calais, but the current building was completely rebuilt around the walls and framework of the old building. The project was carried out in 1877. The construction of a transept, enlarged windows and a stone bell tower completely modified the old monument. The environment has also changed a lot. All traces of the old cemetery, transferred outside the village at the beginning of the 18th century, have disappeared. The furniture includes a stone baptistery, a statue of the Virgin and Child, a confessional and a Louis XV period bench. The beautiful wooden tabernacle decorated with a statue of Saint Lubin comes from the church which was located a few kilometers away, in Saint-Lubin-des-Cinq-Fonts, and of which only the choir, which has become a chapel, remains today. .

Saint John the Baptist is considered the pivotal figure of the Bible, between the Old and New Testaments: the last of the Prophets, he is the precursor of Christ, the messenger who announces Him... His mother - Elizabeth, is related to Mary and both women meet while they are both expecting their son. We can only refer to the Gospel of Luke (1, 39-45) which powerfully depicts this touching scene, and which the Church has celebrated every year since the 13th century under the name of Visitation (May 31). Jean, as an adult, will lead the harsh life of an ascetic in the desert. He preaches, teaches prayer and proposes a baptism of conversion, while announcing the coming of “one more powerful than he… who will no longer baptize only in water, but in the Holy Spirit…” He himself will baptize Jesus.

This 16th century church is distinguished by its two naves of different inspiration. The north nave is Romanesque while the south nave is Renaissance style.