The best traffic-free bike rides around Crécy-Couvé

The Saint-Martin church, located in Châtaincourt, was not always the only place of worship in the commune. A small chapel did indeed exist between Châtaincourt and the hamlet of Boutaincourt at a very ancient date, since Louis VII the Young, King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180, came there on pilgrimage in 1155. The Saint-Jacques chapel, such was its name, and the place of the same name no longer exist today, they were destroyed during the Wars of Religion.

Located on the banks of the Blaise River, southwest of Dreux in the prestigious Crécy-Couvé district, the Marquise de Pompadour's residence from 1746 to 1757, the seigneury of Saulnières came under the Marquise's ownership in 1754. Some remarkable elements of the church's furnishings are undoubtedly due to the generosity of this patron of the arts. The Saint-Pierre church, built on the heights of the commune of Saulnières, is believed to have originally been the church of a Benedictine convent, which ceded it to its inhabitants in 1571 after the sack of their place of worship in 1562, during the First Battle of Dreux. While the cartularies of Saint-Père, Beaulieu, and Belhomer mention the town from the first half of the 12th century, we have no documents on the church before its transfer to the commune. The building (34 m by 11.5 m), oriented, with a single nave of four bays extended by a choir bay, ends with a three-sided chevet extended along the axis by a sacristy. The walls are made of cobblestone and grison rubble, while the twelve buttresses are sandstone. The steeply pitched roof is covered with tiles, and, practically in its center, stands a bell tower with a hexagonal base crowned by a spire of the same shape. The western door is framed by two buttresses: it is surmounted by a rose window that probably dates from the 19th-century construction campaign. In the south wall, at the level of the first bay, a blocked, semicircular-arched entrance door suggests a Romanesque construction. From the second bay, light streams in generously through eight openings: semicircular arches for those in the nave and Gothic-style for the four choir bays; a fifth, axial, was blocked when the altarpiece was installed. The 16th-century stained-glass windows were destroyed during a bombing raid during the Second World War; only a few elements, listed as Historic Monuments, remain in the sacristy. The vault, covered with shingles, must have been painted, as evidenced by the hallmark decorated with black and white diamonds and chevrons, likely from the 16th century. The great simplicity of the architecture is offset by the relative richness of the furnishings. The late 15th-century stone statues representing Saint Barbara, a religious figure without attributes, and two angels from the same period constitute a fine example of Gothic sculpture, albeit lacking the two angels purchased in the early 20th century for the Louvre, where they are now on display. The choir's layout could date back to the time of Madame de Pompadour: the doors, open on either side of the central section, are surmounted by two painted and gilded wooden statues, Saint Peter and Saint Sebastian. The central section is crowned by God the Father, and the canvas depicts Saint Peter freed from his chains by an angel. A fragmentary funerary liter is still visible inside and outside. In 2003, the Sauvegarde de l'Art Français (French National Art Foundation) granted €10,000 in aid to help repair the structure and roof of the building, whose condition had been aggravated by the 1999 storm.

Mentioned in 1159 as a possession of the chapter of Chartres, the oldest parts of the church of Saint-Léger, the nave and western façade, must date back to the 11th century. The nave, 15 m long and 7 m wide, is built from small rubble stones embedded in mortar. Only the corner quoins of the façade and the semicircular arch of the entrance door are made of dressed stone. In 1514, a larger choir (10 m X 10 m) finished by a flat wall, was added to the east. Some of its pointed arched bays have retained their beautiful tracery. The entire choir and nave are covered by a beautiful framework in the shape of an inverted hull. A significant decoration, created in the 18th century, woodwork, stalls, work bench, glory arch, lectern, and communion railing have been fortunately preserved. Traces of medieval wall paintings and a coat of arms were spotted on the walls, as well as ancient graffiti on the exterior. A 12th-century stone baptismal font and a 15th-century stone statue of Saint Léger are listed as Historic Monuments. A slate bell tower, topped with a slate spire, rises above the slightly recessed gable of the western façade. The Sauvegarde de l'Art Français (French Art Protection Agency) granted aid of 100,000 francs in 1992 and then 40,000 francs in 1993 for essential work on the framework and roof.

Built in the 15th century on the foundations of a chapel whose origins can be traced back to a papal bull from Pope Alexander in 1142, Saint Apollonia was worshipped there.

Every year, during the Heritage Days, the association "Au Cœur de Nos Villages" opens the doors of the Saint-Pierre church. A building from the 12th and 15th centuries, listed as a historical monument, whose bell tower, clock, and five renovated altarpieces, including Saint Michael slaying the dragon, are to be discovered. For the benefit of the Restos du Cœur Walkers will also be able to get to know the Atelier Arc-en-ciel (plastic arts) which exhibits the works of the adult group. Paintings, in red chalk, white pencil, sepia, etc., representing views of the church, statues, etc., will be put on sale for the benefit of the association Au Cœur de Nos Villages.

The Saint-Rémy church in Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre is dedicated to Saint Remi of Reims, Bishop of Reims who baptized Clovis in 496 in the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims. In the 12th century, it marked the border between the Duchy of Normandy and the French royal domain on which Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre depends. It is a flamboyant Gothic church from the 15th century, probably rebuilt since we have mention of its existence since the end of the 11th century.

The whole construction is homogeneous: in Vernon limestone, it is punctuated by buttresses using blocks of sandstone and grison in the lower part. The church is largely lit by the four bays with flamboyant tracery that have been pierced to the north and south. The building is covered with a rafter frame forming entirely paneled trusses, whose stencil decoration was taken up in the 19th century by painting companies from Dreux. But it is probably the countryside of the early 16th century that attracts attention. Indeed, on the west facade has been grafted a Renaissance portal, in soft limestone, consisting of two pilasters decorated with candelabras with capitals supporting an entablature, above the arched portal, finely chiseled with a floral scroll. The whole is surmounted by a niche with a canopy framed by two fish and two balusters, and crowned by a motif similar to a dormer window. This remarkable element from the first decade of the 16th century reflects the first introductions of the Renaissance style in religious architecture. We also think of the portal of the church of Pierres sur la vallée de l'Eure. The interior of the church reflects through its furnishings the large orders made from 1759 to renew the decor of rural parish churches. We note in particular the large monumental altarpiece of the choir, but also the work bench and especially the pulpit, in wood and plaster, installed in 1759, by implanting an access staircase in the rear wall. This set of furnishings accompanies the painted decors of the 19th century, whether it be the false-appliance of the walls or the stenciled decoration of the paneled vault. The work campaign that has just ended required two functional phases: the first was devoted to sanitation work, roofing of the nave and bell tower, restoration of the sculptures (west portal), and stained glass windows; the second focused on the exterior coatings, the pillars of the bell tower belfry, lighting, cleaning of the painted vault and the conservation treatment of the furniture. This major project led by chief architect Régis Martin was supported by the Sauvegarde de l’Art français with a donation of €6,000 in 2017.

The parish church of Escorpain, dedicated to Saint Germain, is a very simple building, rectangular in plan and of modest dimensions. With a single nave, it ends with a flat chevet; a sacristy is attached to the north side of the choir; the gable wall of the façade is topped with a slate spire. The church is mentioned as early as the 12th century. The small rubble stonework, which also bears the traces of numerous alterations, and the small openings, three in number in the north wall and only one in the south wall, constitute the oldest remains of this building which was extensively restored in the 19th century. It was in fact from 1886, thanks to the generosity of the Firmin-Didot family that the building was raised, as evidenced by the gable wall of the façade. The nave was then covered with a panelled vault, replacing the previous framework: the 1886 inscription mentions previous work campaigns, in the 17th century in particular. The entire interior was redesigned, not without unity, in a neo-Gothic style. As for the two large bays in the south wall, probably pierced in the 16th century, they were greatly altered during this campaign. For the repair of the exterior masonry, the rendering of the façade, the roofs of the nave and a slope of the sacristy, the Sauvegarde de l’Art Français granted this unprotected church a subsidy of 80,000 F in 1994.