The best cycling routes around Blanzac-Porcheresse

The Îles de Fleurac are located in the Charente near Linars, west of Angoulême. The small archipelago consists of four river islands, three of which are larger and connected by paths and wooden jetties. The water-rich, densely overgrown landscape is now a popular destination for walkers and anglers. Immediately near the islands are the Fleurac locks, which are part of the navigability of the Charente. On the Nersac side, there is also a former paper mill, which is reminiscent of the former industrial use of water power. Above the river valley rises the Château de Fleurac, so that nature, industry, and cultural landscape meet in a small space.

Peaceful and relaxing place

The Church of Saint-Hilaire is a Catholic church located in Nonac, Charente. The building was listed as a historic monument in 1913. The church of Nonac features architecture characteristic of Saintonge Romanesque construction. It is characterized by a beautiful collection of Gothic-era murals and a particularly well-preserved crypt decorated with murals. https://www.sudcharentetourisme.fr/fiche-sit/eglise-saint-hilaire-5732249/#truncate https://www.infiniment-charentes.com/fiche-sit/eglise-saint-hilaire-5732249/

Saint-Étienne Church in Courgeac, in Charente, is a 12th-century Romanesque church composed of a single nave made of small cubic rubble (early 12th century), with a barrel vault, a square ribbed vault topped by a rectangular bell tower, and a semicircular Romanesque apse with a cul-de-four vault. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a porch was built in front of the nave and covered with frescoes. Above the apse, an upper chamber was built, probably during the Wars of Religion, for defensive purposes, including a battlement and gun ports. The church displays the architecture typical of modest churches of the early Romanesque period. You must enter the cemetery to get a full view. http://chapiteaux.free.fr/TXT_COURGEAC_16.html https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Attraction_Review-g1932328-d27157425-Reviews-Eglise_Saint_Etienne_a_Courgeac-Montmoreau_Saint_Cybard_Charente_Nouvelle_Aquit.html

Beautiful little town center

Very narrow passage to drive through. You always have to be a little careful.

Montmoreau Castle is in the new commune of Montmoreau in Charente Montmoreau is a new French commune located in the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It was created on January 1, 2017 from the merger of Montmoreau-Saint-Cybard, Saint-Amant, Saint-Eutrope, Saint-Laurent-de-Belzagot and Aignes and Puypéroux. Montmoreau Castle stands at the top of a natural hill overlooking the Tude Valley. In the centuries of instability and disorder that followed the collapse of Roman Gaul, the invasion of the Arabs from Spain around 700 and the Viking raids in 844 added to the anxiety of the populations of our region. Then the disintegration of the Carolingian empire led to a dispersion of the centers of power from which feudalism would be born. This is why the 10th and 11th centuries were a time when a large number of fortified entrenchments or camps were established, often built on "castral mounds", which are at the origin of many of today's "castles". The hill of Montmoreau offered in a way a perfect natural mound for the construction of what was probably at first a simple fortified camp and became a feudal castle in the 11th century. It occupied the platform and was provided with a double fortified enclosure. The two round towers of the current building belonged to the feudal castle. Likewise the porch chapel, Notre-Dame chapel, which was located in the first enclosure. But excavations would surely reveal traces of other remains. The current castle was built on this same site in the middle of the 15th century, perhaps by Guy de Mareuil, lord of Montmoreau, Villebois and Mareuil. With the exception of the two feudal towers, the entire building is partly Gothic and partly Renaissance. It is a perfect witness to this pivotal period between a world that was ending and a world that was beginning. Over the centuries, it seems that the various lords and then owners of the castle never had enough money to add buildings from different periods to the building, as can be seen in so many other castles. Preserved almost intact since its construction, the castle of Montmoreau therefore offers an architectural heritage of exceptional purity. The renovations carried out by the current owner aim, by reinforcing the solidity of the buildings, to restore the original aspects under the few modifications that have been made. Towards the east, overlooking the Tude valley, the castle displays a façade that looks great with its high main building flanked by the two round feudal towers and its sloping roofs of flat tiles from which the chimneys emerge. On the side of the north tower, about halfway up, we can make out an old door that opened onto the castle's patrol path. The Gothic gables of the central body bristle with stone plant crosiers. Their bases are seated on two sculptures of "intimidating lions", one opening its mouth to the north, the other to the south, and they are crowned by a finial. To the north and south, a pavilion leans against the gable. The southern one has just regained its original three-sided roof. Towards the west, the façade that faces the park also mixes eras. The mullioned Renaissance windows retain civil Gothic motifs. The hexagonal tower of the staircase projects from the façade. It has a very beautiful door in flamboyant Gothic style, with a tympanum sculpted with prismatic ribs and intertwined foliage practically erased by the erosion of time. But if you look closely, you can make out a bird in profile among the foliage on the right side. Perhaps the signature of the stonemason artist. In the corner of this tower and the façade, stands a watchtower with a pointed bell tower made of chestnut essentes (a type of shingle) whose base in a "cul-de-lampe" is completely in the Renaissance style. Source: https://montmoreau.fr/index-module-orki-page-view-id-116.html#:~:text=L'%C3%A9difice%20a%20%C3%A9t%C3%A9%20class%C3%A9,%C3%A9difice%20par%20la%20nef%20porche. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Montmoreau https://monumentum.fr/monument-histoire/pa00104431/montmoreau-chateau

Primitive in style, built in the 11th or 12th century, the Saint-Eutrope church was built on the site of a previous place of worship. It was first a perpetual vicariate dependent on the abbey of Cluny. The building was restored and modified at the end of the 19th century by the architect Paul Abadie who mainly had the bell tower remodeled by adding a second floor, consisting on each side of three bays with two arches on a straight foot and topped with a fairly high pyramidal spire. It has a wooden frame covered in slate. Shortly before the storm of 1999, some work was carried out in order to restore its former character, in particular the unvaulted nave, thus revealing the original wooden frame. This work made it possible to uncover a small door leading to the outside located to the left of the nave and near the choir. Door that can be found in many Romanesque churches (such as the church of Montmoreau). The location of these doors is said to evoke the lance thrust to the heart that Christ received on the cross. This opening was transformed into a niche to house the statue of the Virgin and Child Jesus. The bell tower houses two bells: the first weighs 110 kg and dates from 1725, the second weighs 375 kg and dates from 1890. The exterior staircase leading to the bell tower is very special. It is of the self-supporting type: that is to say that each step sealed in the wall rests partially on the previous one. There are two other staircases of this type in the town. https://www.montmoreau.fr/index-module-orki-page-view-id-115.html