The best traffic-free bike rides around Neufchâtel-En-Saosnois

This magnificent church in Neuchâtel is dedicated to the patronage of "Saint-ETIENNE". He is one of the first seven deacons of the early Jerusalem community and, according to the biblical accounts in the "New Testament", the first martyr (witness by blood) of early Christianity. The church commemorates his death on the second day of Christmas, December 26th. As the Acts of the Apostles reports: When Stephen loudly proclaimed his vision of the open sky "But he, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (Chapter 7, Verse 55), the people were so outraged that they drove him out of the city and stoned him.

11th Century Church Worship was abolished in the parish of Chevain. The church was sold for 31,700 livres to the citizen of Villeray on 6 Vendémiaire, Year VII (September 27, 1799). The Chevain church, having been donated by Madame du Hameau de Villeray to the commune by notarial deed dated April 16, 1827, was restored to worship there on January 15, 1827. The parish was established as a branch parish.

Built at the end of the 12th century, the church belonged to the former diocese of Saintes. It has been restored several times, notably in the 15th century. Rectangular building with a straight chevet. A single nave with a ribbed vault. Sculpted column capitals. In the transept, a dome on pendentives. Chancel with a ribbed vault and a large 13th-century chevet window. On the north side of the chancel, a large pointed arch gives access to a ribbed vaulted chapel. The western façade dates from the 13th century, with a pointed arch portal with three arches on round columns. Two chamfered pilasters separate the portal from the blind doors and rise to the top of the façade. Above this ground floor and set back are three pointed arch arcades with sculpted figures (seated Virgin, shepherds guided by an angel, three wise men). On each side, twin arcades with pointed arches with heads, fantastic animals, diamond points and crockets. On the transept rises a square bell tower.

The place that gives its name to the surrounding forest. An abbey founded in 1145 by monks from the Abbey of Citeaux in search of silence and isolation. Now, only a ruined section remains, visible through the foliage from the road. Note that these ruins are located on the grounds of the oldest summer camp still in operation in France.

The Church of Saint Pierre and Saint Paul in Ancinnes is in its original part from the 11th and 12th centuries. It was modified in the middle of the 19th century by the addition of a transept which gives it the shape of a Latin cross. ​ The Organ of the Church of Saint Pierre and Saint Paul in Ancinnes was built by the Damiens brothers in the middle of the 19th century (1863) following the late 18th century. It was the work of Abbé Dubois, priest of Ancinnes from 1843 to 1865. This organ, built by the brothers Louis and Robert Damiens, organ builders in Gaillon (Eure) remains, today, one of the only survivors in the region in working order. It is a unique instrument due to its size, which can be heard as the Damiens brothers would have wished. They built 85 instruments, including 3 in Sarthe. The others were abandoned, looted or burned. Previously the Damiens brothers were wheelwrights, which explains the robustness and solidity of their organs. These organs were built to last. The Ancinnes Organ has about fifteen stops divided between two manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard of 13 notes and 850 pipes. The 12th century openings of the nave, alternating limestone and roussard, remain in the state of vestiges being walled up or enlarged in the 19th century. In the 12th/14th century, a door was opened in the gable while the bell tower and the choir rose, which retain pointed arches and trefoil tracery. Boucher built the North chapel in 1854. Chadaigne, from Alençon, repainted the entire interior around 1860 representing the Eucharist and the story of Saint Peter. A staircase tower was built against the bell tower in 1895.

small, gentle climb coming from Allieres Beauvoir

Good for a little break

Fresh climb to the north of Sarthe