The best road cycling routes in Forêt Domaniale De Messarges

Many animals find refuge in this imposing oak grove, formerly owned by the Dukes of Bourbon. It's a very pleasant cycle along this shaded road.

This ford, located a few kilometers before Moulins, can be very slippery. You arrive there after a 600 m descent at 7%, so be careful!

The town of Souvigny was chosen by the Bourbon dynasty as the religious capital of its duchy. Thus, the commune became the necropolis of all the Bourbon lords.

The parish of Bagneux formerly depended on the diocese of Bourges, and it is on its territory that the castle of Belleperche was located, now disappeared, but made famous by an episode of the Hundred Years' War: while the Duchess of Bourbon dowager was staying there, he was taken by fierce English truckers. Duke Louis II himself did not succeed in freeing his mother. The church, dedicated to Saint Paul, is a modest building with a single nave dating back to the Romanesque period, but remodeled in the 17th century. north side, asymmetrically. The choir is composed of a straight bay and a semicircular apse, decorated with an arcade made up of three semicircular arches framing the windows and separated by two miter arches. These arches are received on columns crowned with capitals with foliage or scales. The choir is covered with a continuous barrel vault, and the nave with an exposed framework; the columns supporting the triumphal arch were redone in the 19th century. Outside, only a string of billets decorates the apse. The hexagonal bell tower is made of wood, covered with chestnut trees and stands at the rear of the west gable. This is pierced by a pointed arch door and a small window to the south. An old wooden porch, probably built at the same time as the bell tower in the 16th century, was removed in the 19th century. The choir retains a terracotta floor bearing traces of yellow enamel, with rosettes formed by groups of four tiles, incised with circles. A double baptismal font, in Gothic style, and a mass foundation plaque from 1679 complete the current furnishings of the church, a processional cross from the parish being kept in the treasury of Moulins Cathedral. For the restoration of the exterior walls of the apse, the Safeguarding of French Art paid €4,000 in 2003.

Romanesque church with Burgundian, Auvergne and Berry influence. Built at the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th, the current building belongs to the transitional Romanesque style. Indeed, if it is Romanesque in its general plan, the ornamentation of its portals and its capitals, its narrow semi-circular openings, its elegant apse and its cul-de-four vaulted apsidioles, it is "timidly" Gothic through the vault of its nave. Furthermore, built at the crossroads of three dioceses, this construction was influenced by the Burgundian, Auvergne and Berry schools. The capitals are most interesting: intertwined foliage, heads of grimacing men and beasts, grotesque masks... A statue of the Virgin with the bird in polychrome wood dates from the 17th century. It is remarkable for its state of preservation and its subject: Mary holding the child Jesus in her arms with a bird perched on his hand. This refers to the apocryphal gospel of the childhood of Jesus according to Thomas written in the 3rd century: Jesus as a child performs miracles such as giving life to clay birds.

Not far from here, in Nevers, is where the Allier River ends its course in the Loire. The view from here is picturesque. Take the time to take some photos. From here, you have a beautiful view of Moulins.

The Phat Vuong Tu Pagoda is a rather unusual monument in the region. Built in 1983 in the district of minors by the Asian community settled in the village since 1955, it is classified as an historic monument. Free visits.

A medieval village in Bourbonnais, a major Cluniac site and former necropolis of the Dukes of Bourbon, this is a must-see. Stop by the abbey church, visit the local artisan shop, Chez Aristide, and stroll through the narrow streets. Don't miss the medieval festival at the end of July!