The best traffic-free bike rides around Thouars

The Church of Saint-Généroux is a site well worth a visit during a hike. It dates back to the 10th century and is considered one of the oldest churches in France, as it features pre-Romanesque architecture found nowhere else. The church is located on the banks of the Thouet River. You can also admire the Romanesque bridge (13th century).

The contemporary art center of national interest, La Chapelle Jeanne d’Arc de Thouars, is today a leading venue for contemporary art in the western region. Along with the Château d’Oiron and the Syndicat Mixte de la Vallée du Thouet, which runs a program of public commissions for contemporary works, the art center's work is carried out in partnership across the entire territory of the Pays Thouarsais community of communes and, more broadly, in the northern part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Within the region, the art center is a recognized player in the Astre plastic and visual arts network. Developing an artistic project that takes into account its geographical location and its architectural envelope, a neo-Gothic chapel, the art center maintains a privileged relationship with the heritage of Thouars. Guest artists, hosted for residencies or exhibitions, appropriate the chapel space by creating an original work designed for the venue. They also bring their perspective to the city, urban planning, landscape, and rural areas of the Thouars region and the Thouet Valley. Since 1993, nearly a hundred artists have been invited for residencies or exhibition projects. In recent years, the art center has paid particular attention to emerging artists from art schools, particularly those from the regional Le Grand Huit network. In addition to its programming, the art center also engages in outreach activities in the form of off-site exhibitions, workshops, and events (meetings, lectures, and workshops). A mobile device, La Mar(g)elle, was created in 2015 by the artist Marie-Ange Guilleminot to offer interventions in partner locations, particularly within schools and structures in the social and medical sectors. For its educational action, the art center benefits from the action of the municipal art school of Thouars, to which it is connected within the visual arts department of the City of Thouars.

As you probably know, in the year 732, the armies of Charles Martel repelled the Arab advance around Poitiers. A troop of routed Saracens then barricaded themselves in the old parish church of St Sauveur and promised to surrender only in the event of divine intervention. However, in this month of May, after nights of prayers by the villagers, a cold snap hit the Poitiers countryside to the point of covering the grove with an astonishing layer of frost. The Saracens saw the sign of Allah in this unexpected event and decided to leave the village without giving battle. This legend gave its name to the village and the church of the Holy Trinity became a place consecrated by the religious authorities of the region. The oldest parts of the building that stands today on the small village square date back to the 11th century, but the church had to undergo several restoration campaigns during the 19th century. It now appears to us as a fine example of a Romanesque church, simple, rustic and austere. Note the modern stained glass windows made in the 1990s by Louis-René Petit, an artist who also worked in Sénanque and St Benoît sur Loire. His compositions inspired by frost give the church an atmosphere in harmony with its legend.

Dating from the 13th century, at the foot of the city ramparts, this bridge ultimately offers the best view of the Château de Thouars.

This bridge allows you to cross the Thouet and reach Saint Jacques De Thouars. The view there is magnificent! There is a good hill to climb after the bridge, be careful when choosing the pinion!

Without the characteristic wings - which used to capture the power of the wind to set the heavy millstones in motion - the once proud windmill, which was certainly impressive at the time, is missing an essential architectural element. From a distance, the observer can see its modern successors: within sight of the former windmill, the slender towers and turbine blades of a modern wind farm, which is used to generate electricity, rise into the sky.

In the proverbial "good old days" of centuries past, this (former) windmill, standing in a very prominent position in the vast landscape, must have made a deep impression on the viewer. However, this changed a long time ago: the no longer intact tower stump is missing the wings, precisely those elements that were once so fundamental to the appearance of those four-armed giants (at least that is what the character "Don Quixote" invented by Miguel Cervantes thinks in one of the famous Spanish author's bizarre stories).

The Chouans bridge on the Thouet is a medieval bridge which crosses the Thouet river between Thouars and Saint-Jean-de-Thouars. The bridge was fortified in the 15th century and witnessed the passage of the Vendée army during the French Revolution. You can admire the architecture of the bridge which has two arches and triangular spouts on the piers. You can also enjoy the view of the river and the castle of the Dukes of La Trémoille on the hill. The bridge is classified as a historic monument and has been restored several times.