The best traffic-free bike rides around Houville-La-Branche

very nice pond to rest

This small rural building has a cemetery or churchyard cross dated 1730 as well as an old brotherhood bell linked to Saint Nicholas

This 13th-century portal is an example of pure Gothic style. The quality of the rafter frame forming trusses, with sculpted king posts, should be highlighted. The lord of Prunay, Louis de Billy, was behind its establishment from 1541 to 1547.

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste church of Gellainville is situated in such a way that, apart from parishioners, very few people know about it. It is located on the edge of the village, away from the hamlet of Bonville. You absolutely must discover it; it is a simple church that bears witness to monastic austerity, exuding an impression of power and authority. Built in the 11th century from Berchères stone, its plan is rectangular and ends in a semi-circle. It rests on simple walls supported by buttresses. Some windows are rounded and others are ogival, indicating that transformations or extensions may have taken place after the original construction. It was also remodelled in the 16th century. It no longer has its original porch. Little remains inside the church; four statues were stolen on April 28, 1975, including one representing Saint Jerome removing a thorn from a lion's paw, which was priceless. The other sculptures represented Saint John the Baptist, Saint Fiacre, and Saint Sebastian, who had been in the church of Gellainville since 1609. A 16th-century stained glass window was classified as a historical monument on November 17, 1908. In this stained glass, we see a nimbled saint, next to him the donor in 16th-century attire with her family, and a coat of arms at the top of which are a star, three ears of wheat, and the letters MB. Another treasure is located to the left of the holy water font at the entrance of the church. It is a 15th-century English alabaster, classified on February 04, 1928. It was made in Nottingham, England. This building was entirely restored between 2003 and 2005, and this restoration was exemplary.

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...

Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it was consecrated in 1903. It replaced an old 12th century church, contemporary with a convent of which only the chapel dedicated to the three Marys remains today. It is decorated with stained glass windows by master glassmaker Lorin: three windows (on the right) are dedicated to the appearance of Christ to the Saints Mary and three windows (on the left) to the apparitions of the Virgin at La Salette in the Alps in Isère in 1846. The patron saints of the church, Saint Gervais and Saint Protais appear on the stained glass windows of the choir. In 2003 the centenary of the church was celebrated and in 2004, two glass roofs, made by the Petit workshops of La Bourdinière Saint Loup, were mounted on the second level of the nave: the resurrection of Lazarus and the healing of the paralytic. It preserves an organ from 1892, by the maker Louis Delierre, from Nantes. The church of Mignières receives pilgrims faithful to the three holy Marys of the Gospel (Marie-Jacobé, Marie-Magdeleine and Marie-Salomé) on May 22, July 22 and October 22.

The Saint-Germain de Morancez church could date from the 10th century. Its cut stone facade is punctuated by four buttresses framing a portal. This is composed of three concentric arches resting on engaged columns, decorated with capitals. The zigzag decoration of the arches confirms a dating before the 12th century. The occulus surmounting the porch illuminates a semi-circular vaulted nave. This was enlarged with an aisle built much later and where there is an altar dedicated to the Virgin. The furniture remains simple but not without interest with its benches enclosed in painted wood. However, it is worth mentioning a sculpted pulpit from the 18th century. In 1707, the prior-parish priest of Morancez was Nicolas Courvoisier, religious of the Saint-Jean-en-Vallée abbey. A poet, he is notably the author of a Latin ode addressed to the people of Chartres on the death of Paul de Godet des Marais1. He died on May 14, 1742 in Morancez and was buried in the church. (his tombstone remains to be identified.) Although Morancez was a modest parish, in 1851 it benefited from a prestigious gift from Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I, governor of Les Invalides, then in residence at the Château de Gourdez. He offered the church a painting, Moses makes water flow from the rock, painted by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli between 1657 and 1660. This Italian artist had been called to decorate the cabinet called "At the water's edge" of the apartment of Queen Anne of Austria at the Louvre. He created a decor, now dismembered, composed of a set of six paintings devoted to the story of Moses, including the work, classified as a Historic Monument, preserved in our church. Another interesting work which could be attributed to the school of Philippe de Champaigne represents Jesus among the doctors. These two paintings benefited from a restoration in 1998

Coming from Berchères la Maingot, Place Pasteur, the farm is on the left, you have to enter the courtyard, and it is again on the left.