The best road cycling routes around La Marolle-En-Sologne

The Solognot village of 1255 inhabitants (INSEE figure 2022) Ligny-le-Ribault is located, between La Ferté-Saint-Aubin and Chambord, in the heart of Sologne. Just 1h30 from Paris, Ligny-le-Ribault offers you intense moments.... The dynamism of the traders, artisans and associations make Ligny-le-Ribault a lively village where it is good to live. Amidst forests, ponds, moors and heathers... for fishing, hunting, hiking or listening to the deer's roar in autumn, our village offers you a charming discovery.

It's a beautiful castle, that's true, but in a state of disrepair...

Ideal for a picnic

The parish church, dedicated to Saint Stephen, belonged in the 13th century to the Abbey of Micy near Orléans. It was rebuilt at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. It consists of a long nave, 35 meters in length and over 9 meters wide, ending in a three-sided apse. Its walls, built of rubble and rendered brick, are reinforced by dressed stone buttresses. The cornice at the base of the roof and the window and door surrounds are also made of molded dressed stone. The double-lancet windows with trefoil topped by a figure-eight shaped bilobe are identical, except for those on the west facade and the central window, which are more elaborate, featuring three lancets while retaining the same molding. An addition was made at the beginning of the 16th century. On the north side stands an imposing seigneurial chapel and a massive bell tower with eight flat buttresses, two on each face, all built of brick. Ashlar is reserved for the buttresses of the bell tower and alternates with brick in the buttresses of the chapel; it is used for framing the openings, the windows, and the sloping sides of the chapel's gable. A lozenge-shaped decoration of black bricks on a background of pink bricks has been preserved on the lower level and on part of the gable of this chapel. The chapel was the only vaulted part of the church, undoubtedly financed by Jean or Claude d'Estampes, lord of La Ferté-Nabert. The rest of the building was covered by a panelled vault, the replacement of which with a false ribbed vault of plaster resulted in the disappearance of the tie beams and king posts and ruined the structural integrity of the roof frame. This artificial, cold, and superficial decoration of the upper sections deprives the interior of the interplay of tie beams and king posts. These, in their rhythm, corresponded to the lateral openings and reflected the robust structure of the timber frame that protected the building. A comprehensive restoration is planned. Initially, for the north chapel—masonry, roofing, and timber frame—the French Heritage Society (Sauvegarde de l’Art français) provided €30,490 in 2001.

The Church of Saint-Martin is a modest building, but representative of the Sologne region. It consists of a single nave, 15 meters long by 7.50 meters wide, extended by a wider chancel, 10.50 meters long by 8 meters wide. The nave dates from the 12th century and is built of small, irregular rubble stones* and various reclaimed materials (iron burls have even been found in the walls). Dressed stone (lake limestone) is reserved for the quoins and window and door surrounds. The west door is Romanesque: a semicircular arch with an extradosed stringcourse of diamond points (the surrounds have been altered). It is surmounted by a narrow, rather archaic window with a gunport-like vault and no rebate, which has recently been reopened and fitted with a newly created stained-glass window. Traces of two other similar Romanesque windows have been discovered and preserved on the south and north walls of the nave. A beautiful basket-handle arched "door of the dead" was also discovered to the south. The current stained-glass windows were added no later than the early 20th century. In 2003, the entire structure was restored with a lime plaster finish and tufa stone window and door frames. The apse, flanked by brick buttresses laid in a diamond pattern, is characteristic of the early 16th century. The removal of the plasterwork revealed two large segmental arched windows to the south (dating from the 17th or 18th centuries). The sacristy roof was restored with flat tiles, and its doorway was rebuilt with dressed stone and an oak lintel. The church has a small timber-framed bell tower (17th century?) overlooking the west facade. The nave roofs are now covered in slate, whereas they were originally covered in local tiles, as was the sacristy (built in the late 18th or early 19th century). Inside, the church remains in its 19th-century state. While the 17th-century timber frame has disappeared, the building still possesses an interesting 15th- or 16th-century timber frame, with tie beams adorned with rather naive corbels. The king posts and wooden vault were modified later, culminating in the 19th century with a low-pitched plaster vault on laths. A complete 15th-century truss, with a molded king post, base, and capital, is hidden between the west gable wall and the bell tower. While the interior plasterwork was redone a few years ago, the work carried out in 2002 and 2003 uncovered remnants of mural paintings on the west side, by clearing the Romanesque window (which had been blocked during the installation of the bell tower). A faux-ashlar decoration with double ochre-red joints is still clearly visible. The church retains most of its furnishings from after the Counter-Reformation: the pulpit, the altar with its altarpiece (decorated with a Charity of Saint Martin, a copy from 1867), and the baptismal font.

The church was built at the beginning of the 16th century by the master mason Etienne Fondant (d. 1526), whose epitaph is preserved. The massive, quadrangular bell tower-porch to the west dates from the 16th century and is surmounted by a spire rebuilt in the 19th century. La Saussaye writes that around 1810 there was a "60-foot spire" which was toppled and replaced. The baptismal font dates from between 1520 and 1528 and bears the coat of arms of Claude d'Etampes, the lord who founded the church, and his wife Anne Robertet. The 17th-century altarpiece was extensively altered ("disfigured," wrote Dr. Lesueur) in the 19th century. The lectern and the chancel screen date from the 18th century.

At the heart of one of the most beautiful deer populations in France, discover the fascinating world of the deer in this museum dedicated to them. In an authentic Sologne building, immerse yourself in the life of this majestic animal through a fun and educational tour. Understand the evolution of its antlers, learn to recognize its prints, and discover the secrets of its roar.

Indeed a nice cool route, a little sheltered from the wind.