The best traffic-free bike rides around La Chapelle-Vicomtesse

The Saint-Barthélémy church dates from the 12th century but was restored and enlarged in the 17th and then in the 19th century. The elegant bell tower, formed of a square tower, becomes octagonal at 20 m high. Small loophole-type windows light the belfry. It is topped by a dome, itself topped by a campanile and a lantern. It is considered a case study by schools of architecture. This church also contains several movable objects classified as Historic Monuments including Christ on the Cross, a polychrome wooden statue from the 17th century, two oils on canvas from the 17th century, a funerary plaque from 1674 by Michel de Verthamon, Knight of Malta, in stone and marble (epitaph in Latin and coat of arms) and a bronze bell, tuned in F, from 1580.

This church was originally supposed to be a simple chapel of the commandery, founded in the 12th century by the Templars, forming one side of the courtyard that groups the buildings. The monumental 15th century porch is flanked by two brick towers. The nave ends with a semi-circular apse covered in a cul-de-four. Construction periods: 12th century, 13th century, 15th century

The church, which remained in the diocese of Chartres in the 18th century, belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Calais. Built in the 12th century, it consists of a single nave continued by a semicircular apse. The semicircular portal is surmounted by a consecration cross. Several pointed bays were pierced in the 15th century. In the 16th century, the church was enriched with paneling with exposed beams. In the sacristy behind the high altar, a beam sculpted with nails, crowns of thorns, fighters, monsters and coats of arms supports the altarpiece. It dates from the 16th century and most likely comes from a half-timbered house.

The parish church of Saint-Pellerin, whose oriented plan is reduced to a simple rectangle, only retains a few vestiges of the Romanesque period: part of the southern wall, itself repaired several times. The building, which was struck by lightning, was restored in 1821 with the reconstruction of a beautiful molded frame with tie beams. On the north side a chapel opens onto the nave through two arcades which rest on cylindrical columns. The flat bedside is pierced by a large window with three lancets topped with flamboyant tracery. The western facade is dominated by a triangular gable whose slopes are decorated with kale and dogs sitting on piles of loads, the Renaissance style portal is decorated with a large shell surmounted by a sculpted base of a angel holding a shield. On the north and south sides, thick glaciated buttresses support the gutter walls. The Safeguarding of French Art granted aid of 25,000 F in 1993 to restore the flat tile roof and the slate bell tower.

The village is located five kilometers south of Courtalain, in Perche-Gouët, southern part of the department close to Loir-et-Cher and Sarthe. An ancient Roman road, called “Caesar’s path”, crosses the country. The old, picturesque cemetery extended to the south of the church, the new cemetery developing to the east. The history of the building has been marked by two fires which ravaged the bell tower, the first in 1739, the second in the 19th century: after this last disaster, the bell tower was rebuilt on the first bay of the nave (and not on the middle), which led to significant modifications to the framework in place in the western part. The current bell tower, of hexagonal section, which leaned towards the southwest, was straightened during the latest work. The nave, elongated in shape, is extended to the east by a semi-circular apse. Two sacristies were built, one in the 18th century. to the north, the second to the east, later, was recently removed to free up the apse of the church. The church is built of coated flint rubble, grison was used for certain bay frames, as well as for buttresses. The presence of semi-circular openings in the upper part of the walls explains the very old dating (11th century) sometimes attributed to the building. The middle bay of the rounded apse was removed to allow the installation of an altarpiece. The door which, to the south, opened towards the cemetery is today condemned, the entrance is made either through another door also located in the south gutter wall, or through the western facade preceded by a caquetoire. The interior of the building is covered with a paneled framework with joint covers whose punches and molded tie beams are visible. Unfortunately, in the 1930s the north and south walls were lined in the western part with a cement block wall.  the entrance to the church remains a baptismal font; the church also has a statue of a saint holding a column. For the urgent work consisting of straightening the bell tower and removing the cement coatings in the lower part of the exterior walls, the Safeguarding of French Art granted aid of €7,000 in 2004.

Located in Droué in Loir-et-Cher, the Saint Nicolas church dates from the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. Droué was in the Middle Ages the name of a castle located between two parishes, Bourguérin and Boisseleau, which each had their own church and their own lord. The Saint Nicolas church, which was built on the site of the old chapel of the Château de Bourguérin, would then have replaced an old parish church. Today, the building is characteristic of Perche Vendômois. The nave, covered with paneling, was enlarged by a bay on the west side in 1631 by Isaac de Raynier and provided with a semi-circular portal with, on either side, two Doric columns. The choir, which underwent significant alterations in the 19th century, ends with a three-sided apse. Since the 19th century, the church has also had a sacristy and two chapels. In the chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas there is a door dating from the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century. We can also observe stained glass windows representing the coats of arms of the imperial families, as well as a painting by Jouvenet: a man in armor is kneeling before a bishop to whom he gives keys. Several wooden statues, including a Virgin which dates from the 17th century, also decorate the church.

Roman times, the town is crossed by the ancient road known as “Caesar’s Path”. Saint-Pérégrin Church, is an 11th century building. Composed of a simple rectangular nave ending in a semi-circular apse, the building is constructed of dark sandstone, also called “grison”. Its length is 26m, its width is 8m33. Frame bell tower in the middle of the roof. No architectural specificity is to be noted, except for the small frame porch on the western facade which, with the gray color, brings a pleasant nuance to this church in the north of the department. Splendid woodwork is arranged in the choir and in the nave. They are made up of the main altarpiece, the side altarpieces, the communion table, the triumphal arch and the preaching pulpit. This set of sculpted woodwork from the 17th century, protected as Historic Monuments, gives a very certain charm to the building. May 1st, numerous pilgrimages to Saint-Marcou for cold moods. Another pilgrimage to Saint-Vrain. The church has numerous statues made of painted carved wood between the 17th and 18th centuries, representing different saints. They are all listed as Historic Monuments.

The parish church dedicated to Saint Anne, perhaps more anciently to the Virgin, depended on the diocese of Chartres. This former possession of Ganelon, treasurer of Saint-Martin de Tours in the 11th century, was undoubtedly part of the important donation made by his descendants Eudes and Rahier de Montigny for the benefit of the chapter of Chartres Cathedral around 1160. This Romanesque building, 35 m long, with a single nave and flat apse, reinforced with buttresses and lit by round-arched windows splayed internally and simply chamfered towards the outside, was never vaulted in stone: it is covered with 'a paneled vault. The masonry is entirely made of Grison stone, including the frames, giving an austere appearance specific to this region of Perche. We enter to the west through a semi-circular door with a double arch into the lower room of a bell tower-porch established later inside the original nave. The upper part of this bell tower was pierced with semi-circular bays. The eastern one was obstructed during the installation of the high roof of the nave and the bells were placed above in a belfry under a frame. The interior of the building was in fact covered as a whole by a paneled vault with molded beams and punches from the 16th century. In the 17th century, the entire back of the choir was decorated with a large altarpiece with columns and pilasters, paintings and sculptures, of great decorative effect. A curious set of carpentry from the same period presents above a confessional a paneled pulpit surmounted by a large sounding board. Note in the furniture a carved Gothic canopy from the beginning of the Renaissance and on the glory beam a carved wooden calvary from the same period. The 19th century. added a gallery, repainted the vault and provided the windows with stained glass.