The best traffic-free bike rides around Soligny-La-Trappe

In the center of Randonnai, the 16th-century Saint-Malo church, enlarged in 1836, houses several works classified as Historic Monuments, including a classical altarpiece with paintings of Saint Andrew and Saint Sebastian. Funeral slabs serve as threshold steps. Inside, a plaque commemorates the departure of Pierre Tremblay (whose birthplace is in La Filonnière) in 1647 for New France. He is the ancestor of the Tremblays of Quebec and North America.

Since 1823, the commune's territory has united the former parish of La Trinité, which was under the bishopric of Chartres, and that of Beaulieu, under the bishopric of Evreux, located on either side of the Avre River, which marked the separation. The tall brick bell tower-porch was added in the 19th century to the older nave (15th-16th centuries?), rectangular in plan, whose wooden vault rests on an exposed roof frame. This modest rural church houses, as a counterpart to the Curé d'Ars, a 15th-century polychrome stone Virgin of exceptional artistic quality. The two sculpted doors of the sacristy come from La Trinité, as well as the engraved "flat tomb" attached to the nave wall. It dates from the 15th century. and the inscriptions are difficult to decipher: Jean Fillon, wearing a canon's hood and a chasuble, his hands clasped and his feet resting on two small dogs, is depicted in a Gothic setting with two angels, silhouettes of altar boys, and canons. Near the baptismal font decorated with three fleurs-de-lis is a large painting of Saint Gilles the hermit, with the doe lying at his feet. A beautiful series of stained-glass windows from the early 20th century illustrate scenes from the New Testament, and two others show Joan of Arc at the king's coronation in Reims, then taking communion in her prison before being led to the stake.

The church is closely inserted between the castle park and the houses of the village, which presents a harmonious ensemble of buildings from the 18th and early 19th centuries, combining flint and brick with lime plaster tinted with ochre. You have to step back a little to see its apse, the foundation of which probably dates back to the Romanesque period. Next to the entrance gable, dressed in Grison rubble, the bell tower was built in 1867 (according to the inscription preserving the names of the mason Gelin and the carpenter Hallier, with those of the priest, Abbot Porcher, the mayor, Viscount des Brosses, and the municipal councilors). The nave is extended by a rounded apse, with thick walls pierced by widely splayed semicircular openings, between which are placed the statues of Saint Sebastian, the Virgin and Child, Saint Michael and the dragon, and a holy bishop. On the "perque" (or beam of glory), a large Christ surrounded by the Virgin and Saint John. The transverse chapel, on the right, from the 15th or 16th century, vaulted with ribs resting on four pendentives with a central key carved like lace, was the seat of the brotherhoods. It houses the more recent statues of Saint Sebastian, the Virgin, Saint Michael and a holy bishop. The seigneury of Chennebrun, which belonged successively to Saint-Simon de Courtomer (1650), Caumont de la Force (1670), Grimoard de Beauvoir (1688), Laval Montmorency (1714), d'Espinay Saint-Luc (1765), etc., was acquired during the Restoration by Jacques-Alexandre Giroult des Brosses, whose father had been mayor of Dreux in 1771. In the seigneurial chapel on the left, inscriptions recall the names and dates of the members of this family linked for more than four generations to the life of the commune. We are grateful to them for having admirably maintained the castle, whose 18th century façade and the entrance to the park are visible from the gate. Their coat of arms appears on the stained glass window of this chapel, where we recognize in the center those of a Laval-Montmorency, Lord of Chennebrun, knight of honor of the Duchess of Orléans, master of the cavalry camp, who died in 1757, as indicated by his funerary slab on the threshold. The numerous 19th century stained glass windows with the names of the donors are worth seeing in detail. The one in the center, in the choir, lifts us to the sky with Our Lady of the Assumption. The statue of Mary, patron saint of Chennebrun, never ceases to watch over her church.

In the nearby park shaded by large trees, the ruins of fortifications recall the memory of the six towers of the old castle built in the 11th century……. In the nearby park shaded by large trees, the ruins of fortifications recall the memory of the six towers of the old castle built in the 11th century by Geoffroy IV, Count of Perche, in order to control this border region near the Chartres region, Normandy, and the possessions of the Lords of Bellême and Alençon which extended as far as Sées. During the Hundred Years' War, Charles, Count of Evreux and King of Navarre, allied with the English against the King of France, seized the fortress in 1364. It was then besieged and retaken on behalf of King Charles V by his younger brother Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, using catapults that threw large stones to collapse sections of the walls. But after the English victory at Verneuil in 1424, they rushed to destroy Marchainville, setting fire to the town and the castle. The church, too, has experienced some vicissitudes. It occupies the site of a very old small monastery, given to the abbey of Saint-Evrouit by a certain Fulchierus of Chartres, who was chaplain to Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem and author of an account of the first crusade. The monks built the priory church in the 11th century, of which the thick right wall with its flat buttresses, the cornice in grison stone, and the support points of the descending roof, which housed a small adjoining cloister, still remain. The church was enlarged (end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century) along its entire length by a side nave resting on stone arches, whose voussures connect without capitals to octagonal pillars. On the unfortunate initiative of Abbot Fleuriel, this side nave was knocked down in 1723, and the roof of the church lowered. It was not until 1810 that a new priest, Abbot Dubois, had the four arcades of the current chapel of the Virgin reopened. The three other old arcades, still visible, remain blocked in the left wall of the nave. Unfortunately, on March 15, 1820, the shock of an earthquake caused the old square bell tower of the priory, which was located above the entrance to the choir, to collapse, which caused considerable damage. Thanks to the generosity of the inhabitants and the personal contribution of the Bishop of Séez, the church was repaired and a new bell tower was erected next to the entrance porch in 1824. On the classical-style altarpiece, a painting, dated 1949, of the Holy Virgin surrounded by angels replaces the painting of the Assumption hanging in the nave. The 18th century tabernacle presents a pretty wooden statuette of the resurrected Christ, with on each side those of a holy bishop with a kneeling donor, and perhaps a Father of the Church. Two pretty statues of Saint Lawrence and Saint Peter adorn the altarpiece of the chapel of the Virgin, where in the center appears the traditional image of Our Lady of Victories presenting Jesus as a child on a starry sphere that symbolizes the world. Above, appear God the Father, his arms outstretched, and the Holy Spirit. Finally, let us not forget the curious statue of Saint Louis with his scepter, presenting the crown of thorns and the three nails of the crucifixion, nor the ancient painting, in the nave, of Saint Eloi as bishop, with his anvil of patron saint of blacksmiths.

Located in a green setting, this chapel of Romanesque origin has preserved all of its 16th century painted decor. An excellent overview of the artistic production of the period. Romanesque in origin and then remodeled in the 12th and 15th centuries, the chapel of Réveillon is one of the rare churches that have preserved their wall paintings. The richness of its treatment and themes is exceptional. We can still read on these walls a profusion of details such as a frieze of arabesques where birds, fruits and flowers are intertwined. Its varied themes represent, among others, The Dict of the Dead and the Three Living, the Passion, the Temptation, the Lives of the Saints and Martyrs, Saint Christopher, etc.

A flowery village, Moussonvilliers takes particular care of the surroundings of its church. By walking along flower beds, you can access it via the covered porch, off-centre with respect to the axis of the gable, the corners of which are reinforced with double buttresses. The church has two naves of unequal width, gathered under the same roof. Built in the 16th century, its poor condition probably required the alterations carried out in the 19th century. From the outside, you can see in particular the use of bricks for the repair of the windows and the cornices of the roof. Inside, between the two parallel naves, the four stone pillars cut into a prism, dating from the construction, carry a wide horizontal band along the entire length of the building (probably made of large beams covered in plaster, replacing the old stone arcades). This band reinforces the beams on which the "tie beams" of the exposed framework rest, and at the same time supports the fall of the two plaster vaults. These structural modifications nevertheless respect the general appearance of the building. At the central altar, the tabernacle evokes the parable of the Good Shepherd who carries the lost sheep on his shoulders. Above, the classical style altarpiece in wood with decorations enhanced with gold, is decorated in the center with a large painting of the Assumption of Mary taken up to heaven by angels. The landscape placed very low accentuates the upward movement of the composition. This painting, of a certain artistic quality, dated 1855, is signed by Claire Hombcrg. Two statues frame it in the niches: on the left, a pretty Virgin in polychrome stone from the 16th century. Crowned with fleurs-de-lys and draped in a blue cloak, she holds the infant Jesus, who stretches out his arm towards the object she is presenting to him (an apple or a bird? We do not know because the right hand is broken). On the other side, in polychrome wood from the 18th century, Saint Catherine of Alexandria reading a book, was once invoked as the patron saint of schools because of her in-depth education. She had in fact publicly and successfully refuted the erroneous theses of several philosophers whom she converted to the Christian faith. She suffered martyrdom in the 4th century. Other statues deserve particular interest. Leaning against a pillar, the 16th century, in stone, of Saint John the Baptist, his cloak raised over his bare legs, presenting the Mystic Lamb placed on the large book of the Bible. And also, from the same period, the small polychrome stone sculpture depicting the education of the Virgin Mary by Saint Anne. It is difficult to see the details because it is placed in a niche above the door. But it is a precious ancient testimony of the devotion to the patron saint of our parish Sainte-Anne-du-Perche. Finally, to the left of the door, the polychrome wooden statue of Saint Paul. The expression on his face reflects somewhat the ardor of his vocation as an apostle of Christianity. Converted by his vision of the road to Damascus, he devoted himself entirely to preaching the doctrine of Christ the Redeemer, traveling through the countries of the Hellenized East to found and lead new communities of baptized people. Thanks to him, the evangelical message was not limited to populations of Jewish culture, but was addressed to people throughout the world. His writings are an ever-current and living source of the doctrine of the Church, the body of Christ.

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Called La Trappe, this abbey from 1122 was the cradle of a reform of the Cistercian order in 1664, creating the Trappist order.