The best traffic-free bike rides around Oinville-Sous-Auneau

The Saint-Léger church of Houx is a religious monument located in the commune of Houx, in the Centre-Val de Loire region. Although its existence is attested, the available sources do not specify either its period of construction or the architectural or historical details associated with it. This type of building, typical of small French towns, often plays a central role in local life, both spiritually and communally. In the Centre-Val de Loire, parish churches like Saint-Léger of Houx were historically essential gathering places for the inhabitants. They served not only for religious services, but also for social or civic events. Their presence generally reflects the medieval or modern organization of the villages, where the church constituted a major geographical and identity landmark.

Located on the pilgrimage route to Chartres, the parish of Orphin was at the borders of the lands of Montfort, the Count of Prunelé, Port-Royal and the Bishopric of Chartres. Surrounded by four fortified houses, the village takes its name "orfin" from the gold of the wheat of the Beauce. The Sainte Monégonde church was erected in the 11th century and established as a parish in the 16th century. The framework bears the date of 1552 and the bells 1556. A polychrome wooden statue from the 17th century, which represents Saint Teresa of Avila, is located near the choir. There is also, on a pillar, a coat of arms depicting the lion of Montfort. A chapel and the bell tower could be earlier than the rest of the building. The large nave could be the result of an extension of the small lateral nave. Indeed, the lateral nave and the central pillars seem older than the other elements of the church. The church suffered a serious fire at the end of the 19th century which destroyed the vault of the large nave and damaged the south wall which were rebuilt. The current stained glass windows were made by Charles Lorin, master glassmaker in Chartres, in 1914. The characters are depicted in the effigy of the donors. The stoup is described as dating from the 16th century but it is probably older. Several paintings from the 17th and 19th centuries adorn the walls of the church. The main altar and the altar of Saint Joseph date from the 1850s.

Construction of this neo-Gothic church began in 1892. On December 8, 1895, it was inaugurated and blessed, becoming the parish church in place of the Church of Saint Rémy. However, sculptures and stained-glass windows have been added or renewed to this day. The stained-glass windows in the nave depict the Beatitudes. Seven sculpted groups in the heart of the church symbolize the sacraments.

The church of Bleury, dedicated to Saint Martin, probably dates from the end of the Middle Ages. It was remodeled and enlarged in the 16th century by the addition of a large chapel on the north side. The nave ends with a semicircular apse. The chapel to the north is extended by a square bell tower which once opened onto the nave through an arch that is now blocked but still visible. The chapel opens onto the nave through two pointed arches made of recently rendered clotted stone. It communicated with the ground floor of the courtyard through an arch that is now closed. Another filled-in arch appears on the wall between the chapel and the lower room of the courtyard. The church is covered with a paneled roof. A single beam is sculpted, the penultimate one on the west side. It supported, with the beam resting on the facade wall, a recently demolished gallery. Some of the nave's semi-circular windows are late, and the pointed arch openings have Gothic tracery. The square bell tower has a saddleback roof. It is pierced with pointed arch openings. Access to the building is from the south, under a modern porch that houses a portal surmounted by a shield with three fleurs-de-lis. A stone cornice runs under the roof to the south, supported by unsculpted modillions. Two 18th-century altarpieces were included in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments on June 17, 1975. 16th-century wall paintings depict the Mass of Saint Gregory. They were discovered in 1881 and classified as Historic Monuments on November 17, 1908. Their preservation is currently threatened by infiltration due to the poor condition of the roof structure. The Sauvegarde de l’Art Français provided aid of 75,000 F in 1994, thus contributing to the repairs undertaken to restore the framework, which will allow the walls to be cleaned up.

Before 528, the village of Saint-Prest was called Saint-Jean-sur-Eure. At that time, the Bishop of Chartres, Ethère, had a building built adjoining the southern flank of the parish church, including a "martyrium" to house the remains of holy martyrs (the legend of Saint-Prest), which were placed in ten sarcophagi. The most honored relics were those of a certain Priscus; following numerous miracles, the parish took the name of Saint-Prest. The current church's crypt is the apse of the 9th-century Carolingian church, which replaced a 6th-century sanctuary. Access to the 12th-century nave, on the west side, is through a beautiful Romanesque portal, carved from beautiful limestone, surmounted by a triple saw-tooth archivolt and framed by two small columns with capitals. On the right, a face would be that of Eve, and on the left would appear the tempting serpent.

Don't be surprised if you spot flamingos 🦩 on the banks of the pond. They're still there, despite the park being closed for many years.

The church, located in the heart of the village, is originally a Romanesque building composed of a nave from the 11th and 12th centuries, ending with a cul-de-four apse in blocking and pierced by three Romanesque bays with splays. Today, the central bay is hidden. An imposing western massif precedes the nave, it has been modified over the centuries, in particular in the second half of the 18th century, and it has a squat bell tower. The entire tower is treated in local limestone as well as the buttresses, the frame of the portal and the bays. The church was enlarged at the beginning of the 16th century by the addition of a chapel to the south and by the addition, a little later in the century, of an aisle. Its dimensions are approximately 30 m long and 18 m wide. The facade is very sober; It is pierced by a door with a broken profile whose external arch is highlighted by a dripstone. An oculus was opened in the upper part of the gable wall. The church underwent major work between 1880 and 1925 approximately. In 1879-1880, the sacristy was completely redone, then in 1912 the entire roof was redone in slate with the exception of the apse. The interior porch is the most carefully designed element of this architecture. The semicircular portal, giving direct access to the nave, is enhanced by a molded torus with a diamond point pattern falling on small columns. This porch is covered with a ribbed vault which falls on the four corner columns with foliate capitals. The nave and aisle are covered with a paneled framework which suffers from disorders. The vaults of the choir and the apse were restored over the centuries and their stained glass windows were made during a campaign between 1919 and 1924. The chapel of the Virgin and the corbels were decorated with paint at the end of the 19th century. The altar and the canopy of the Virgin are in the neo-Gothic style. Two notable elements of the old statuary remain: a quality statue of the Virgin, probably from the 16th or 17th century and a small Saint Vincent of local manufacture. The condition of the framework and the roof of the choir required work, as did all the timbers which had to be treated. To this end, the Sauvegarde de l’Art français made a contribution of €5,000 in 2011.

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