The best road cycling routes around Rémalard-En-Perche

From the 11th century, only the lower part of the bell tower remains. The church was rebuilt in the 14th century in the Gothic style. Since then, the church has undergone only partial alterations and restorations. Church with an elongated plan. Nave flanked by two side aisles. Polygonal chevet flanked by a small building. Bell tower flanking the left side aisle with a double gable roof topped by an octagonal spire. Pointed arch portal with voussoirs, surmounted by a polylobed rose window. Pointed arch bays. Buttresses flanking the building.

The church of Saint-Germain-des-Grois, dedicated to Saint Germain, is a charming church in the canton of Rémalard in the heart of Perche. Built in the Romanesque style with its 12th-century choir, it was considerably enlarged during the 15th and 16th centuries, the periods in which the construction of the side aisles took place. The church was under the jurisdiction of the abbey of Saint-Lomer-de-Blois for its presentation to the parish priest. Its curious exterior volume attracts even more attention as the right wing of a building adjoining the church largely obscures the left side of its façade, in line with the aisle; this construction, moreover, resembles that of an old priory. The building consists of a nave of three bays, flanked by side aisles opening onto the central nave through large arches with a broken profile resting on large circular piers and a choir of one bay in the extension of the central nave ending in a flat chevet. A modest sacristy adjoins the building to the southeast. Outside, the side aisles are covered with successive gables, with the exception of the first bay of the north aisle covered by a square-plan, squat bell tower whose exterior volume, close to that of a bell tower, barely dominates the roof of the building which leans against its base. The three gables covering the right aisle do not follow an identical profile, the slope of the framework and the roof of the first of them, to the west, having been the subject of a significant restoration in the 19th century. At the same time, the two gables of the north aisle were also restored. As for the choir, of smaller volume, it has retained on its north and south sides a cornice with modillions; it constitutes the oldest part of the building. Inside, the nave is covered with a recently restored paneled vault, while the side aisles are vaulted on ribbed vaults, the ribs of which are received by ornate corbels. The church is lit thanks to the large bays with radiating tracery pierced in the walls of the side aisles. Among the notable elements of the furniture, it is worth mentioning the two monumental stone altarpieces which adorn the side altars, works of the 17th and 18th centuries; that of the south aisle houses statues of Saint Sebastian, Saint Joseph and Saint Germain and a finely worked gilded wooden tabernacle from the 17th century, with a dome and small columns. For drainage, the restoration of the masonry, particularly the buttresses, and for the restoration of the lower roof of the bell tower, the Sauvegarde de l’Art français granted a grant of 70,000 F in 1999.

Church built in the 12th and 16th centuries. Listed apse from the 12th century. 4-storey bell tower. Corner buttress bell with staircase turret. Renaissance portal. Large Gothic window above the portal. 16th century roof and nave. Stone statue of a bishop, 16th century paintings.

The Saint-Martin church, listed as a Historic Monument, is located in Nocé, Normandy. It was probably built in the 12th century near the ruined and abandoned Nocé castle after the Hundred Years' War. Originally, the church was surrounded by a cemetery that was moved in the 18th century. In the 15th century, the walls were razed and the Romanesque framework of the nave replaced by a new paneled framework. In the 16th century, after the troubles of the Hundred Years' War, the building was modified: a single large roof was built in place of the various previous volumes and the framework was transformed, a new chapel was added against the south facade and a stone bell tower was built to the right of the nave. This tower, square from base to top, stands twenty meters high. The church is composed of a rectangular nave, three bays and a choir with a Romanesque semicircular chevet. A succession of three chapels opens a side aisle separated from the nave by pillars. The chapels are covered with ribbed vaults. A sacristy is fitted out behind the church. Note the altarpiece and the tabernacle in painted and gilded wood with steps, installed in the choir and lit by two bays with tracery, a painting presenting the disciples of Emmaus and one of the Annunciation, as well as a polychrome terracotta statue and a stone statue of Saint Madeleine without forgetting a stone statue of Our Lady of Pity.

With a very simple plan, with its tiled nave and its small slate bell tower on the ridge, the church surrounded by its cemetery, set back from the road, overlooks the countryside planted with trees. The river is nearby, and its flowing water evokes that of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, as soon as we see the statue of the patron, Saint John the Baptist, in the choir. His arm raised towards the sky reminds us of his preaching in the desert of Palestine: "Prepare for the coming of the Messiah...". On the thin banner attached to his staff are written the words: "Ecce Agnus Dei", by which he already announced that he saw in Jesus the victim freely offering himself as a sacrifice for the Redemption of all men. Placed on the ground against the wall, a 17th century painting. depicts Jesus immersed up to his knees in the waters of the river, leaning with his hands crossed on his chest to receive the baptism of penance from the hand of John kneeling on the bank. We see “the Spirit descending on him like a dove” and we recall the words of John reported in the Gospel: “I am not worthy to bow down at his feet… I have baptized you in water; he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” Beside him, the angel wearing Jesus’ clothes turns his face towards a young child whom he guides with a hand placed on his shoulder, as if to teach him the profound meaning of baptism. Above the arch through which the nave opens onto the choir, the group of Christ on the cross surrounded by Mary and Saint John the Evangelist is a fine example of 16th century religious sculpture, faithful to traditional iconography. Similarly, at the back of the nave is the charming naive statue of Saint Fiacre: this young monk from Ireland loved to cultivate the vegetable garden of his monastery, near Meaux. Patron saint of gardeners, he holds his spade, and in the Perche region he was also invoked to cure various illnesses. More unique in style, the large Renaissance chest serving as a central altar was the former “work bench of the factory” reserved for the administrators of the parish’s resources and expenses. Let us admire the skill and imagination of the cabinetmaker who carved this series of full-length figures in oak under the arcades separated by “terms” inspired by Roman antiquity. Their distinctive attributes make us recognize Saints Christine, Barbara, Madeleine and Catherine on the front, and on the sides Saints Peter and Paul on the right, John the Baptist and Bartholomew on the left. Their silhouettes are more reminiscent of fairy tale characters…

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.

Possibility of taking a walk in the park adjoining this beautiful ruin.

Town hall of the small village of Lande sur Eure with its small war memorial