The best traffic-free bike rides around Ollé

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.

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...

Very beautiful church and the public toilets next to it are perfect, even for filling water bottles too large for the classic sinks.

Composed of a Romanesque nave with flat buttresses placed symmetrically on each side (typical of the end of the 11th century or the first half of the 12th century), it was completely remodeled in the 16th century and the end of the 20th century. The bays of the nave are from the 15th century, in flamboyant Gothic style, as is the rose window. The span of the bell tower and the choir, with ribbed vaults, date from the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. As early as the 16th century, the bell tower had a clock, quite rare and expensive for the time. The pillars of the central bay are richly molded and crowned with thin bands of foliage serving as capitals. The windows are decorated with flamboyant tracery of varied designs. The Romanesque portal was also remodeled in the 16th century. The powerful central bell tower with buttresses [formerly had three bells named PIC DAN JON. There will only be one left after the Revolution, the other two having been melted down to make cannons and ammunition.

The Saint-Pierre church bears within itself the testimony of the centuries by the successive contribution of what they had the possibility of offering of the most truly sacred, it appears in its harmonious silhouette at the crossroads of two great natural regions, Beauce and the Perch. A living work, injured several times but restored, it is more beautiful now than it ever was. Rebuilt at the end of the 15th century, the Saint-Pierre church has been classified as a "Historic Monument" since 1907. It has two chapels, one of which, under the imposing bell tower bearing the date 1620, forms the Latin cross. A major restoration campaign has been carried out in recent years. The roof has been completely redone, preserving the original framework. The western window blocked at the beginning of the 19th century has been restored, a new stained glass window restores its nobility. The church offers a remarkable interior, in particular its imposing altarpiece and a statue of the Trinity, both listed as heritage sites.

The church of Ermenonville la Grande dates largely from the end of the Middle Ages. The choir is the most neat part, it has Romanesque buttresses and bays adorned with cut stones. The nave was probably destroyed during the Hundred Years' War. Its reconstruction was not done in the same style and as elaborately as the choir. The walls are composed quite simply with little dressed stone. The north and south walls of the nave had two doors which gave access to the cemetery. The north door was surely blocked at the beginning of the 20th century when the cemetery was moved and the south door was blocked around 1945. These openings were surrounded by a few cut stones and limestone.

Raised at the end of the 15th century, the castle was re-drilled in the 17th century. It looks like a long building flanked at the four corners by circular towers. A median precedes it to the east. Dry ditches on a square plan surround it. The entrance gate has two Louis XIII pillars, brick and stone in alternating courses. Each end of this gate is marked with square entrance pavilions.££In 1562, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, was held prisoner there by the Duke of Guise after the Battle of Dreux. Catherine de Medici and the members of the king's government came to visit the prisoner to try to negotiate peace, obtaining from this prince that he had the Huguenots lay down their arms. Construction periods: 15th century, 17th century. Source https://monumentum.fr/monument- historique/pa00096965/bailleau-leveque-chateau-de-levesville

On the course of the Blé d'Or, a beautiful cyclosportive.