The best walks and hikes around Chaumont-Sur-Tharonne

Yvoy, whose name (ivos = if) reveals its Gaulish origin, was built after Julius Caesar's conquest at the crossroads of two Roman roads and planted the first chestnut trees. Under the Merovingians around the year 500, money was minted there. Having become Christian around the 6th century, the village adopted Saint-Caprais as its patron. In the 11th century, Yvoy was a toll road crossing. Monks encouraged clearing and transformed the marshes into ponds. Under absolute monarchy, the wars of religion and great famines ruined the region. At the Revolution in 1790, the first municipal council was elected. In 1841, Yvoy, nicknamed the Galeux and famous for its chestnut trees, became Yvoy-le-Marron by decree of King Louis-Philippe. The reconstruction of the village, entirely in brick as it is seen today, dates from the 1850s-1860s. The Miberlan oak, known as the sorcerers' oak, and the Saint-Caprais fountain are magical places where a very Solognot mystery hovers in winter as in summer.

The parish church, dedicated to Saint Stephen, belonged in the 13th century to the Abbey of Micy near Orléans. It was rebuilt at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. It consists of a long nave, 35 meters in length and over 9 meters wide, ending in a three-sided apse. Its walls, built of rubble and rendered brick, are reinforced by dressed stone buttresses. The cornice at the base of the roof and the window and door surrounds are also made of molded dressed stone. The double-lancet windows with trefoil topped by a figure-eight shaped bilobe are identical, except for those on the west facade and the central window, which are more elaborate, featuring three lancets while retaining the same molding. An addition was made at the beginning of the 16th century. On the north side stands an imposing seigneurial chapel and a massive bell tower with eight flat buttresses, two on each face, all built of brick. Ashlar is reserved for the buttresses of the bell tower and alternates with brick in the buttresses of the chapel; it is used for framing the openings, the windows, and the sloping sides of the chapel's gable. A lozenge-shaped decoration of black bricks on a background of pink bricks has been preserved on the lower level and on part of the gable of this chapel. The chapel was the only vaulted part of the church, undoubtedly financed by Jean or Claude d'Estampes, lord of La Ferté-Nabert. The rest of the building was covered by a panelled vault, the replacement of which with a false ribbed vault of plaster resulted in the disappearance of the tie beams and king posts and ruined the structural integrity of the roof frame. This artificial, cold, and superficial decoration of the upper sections deprives the interior of the interplay of tie beams and king posts. These, in their rhythm, corresponded to the lateral openings and reflected the robust structure of the timber frame that protected the building. A comprehensive restoration is planned. Initially, for the north chapel—masonry, roofing, and timber frame—the French Heritage Society (Sauvegarde de l’Art français) provided €30,490 in 2001.

Pleasant path passing in particular near the large Farge pond, where you can observe birds.

Sologne is known for its numerous ponds, which were built since the Middle Ages to supply the population with fish but were also the origin of numerous diseases in the region after the 16th century, notably malaria, until the invention of quinine.

Beautiful church in the heart of Chaumont-sur-Tharonne, on a pretty well maintained square. The houses around the square are also worth a look.