The best road cycling routes around Marchéville

Magnificent ceiling with the possibility of lighting it up

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.

superb car-free road

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.

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

Unfortunately, the church was not accessible when I visited (mid-September 2024). You could only look in through a gate and the dance of death depictions on the left side were not really visible. In front of them were transparencies with skeleton drawings. Maybe those were the depictions...