The best road cycling routes around Fruncé

Magnificent ceiling with the possibility of lighting it up

According to tradition, the church choir covers the remains of an older building, possibly dating back to the 6th century, which was built to house the saint's body. According to current knowledge, the commune of Saint-Piat (Sanctus Piatus in Latin) officially appeared in 1087, mentioned in a charter of the Nottonville Priory (Eure-et-Loir), on which it depended. The current building was rebuilt during the time of Francis I, as suggested by the date 1535 engraved on two buttresses of the apse and the date 1542 engraved on a piece of wood from the vault. This is according to a study by the SAEL (Eure-et-Loir Archaeological Society). The three-sided apses, the dripstone towers (horizontal members projecting from a wall), and the sculpted roof structures are a testament to the importance of the reconstructions carried out in the department during the 16th century. The church of Saint-Piat is one of them. While the church has not been officially recognized, it nevertheless contains objects that have attracted attention both for their antiquity and quality, but not always for good reason. Their artistic value, far from attracting only religious or aesthetic interest, has also aroused a covetousness that, unfortunately, remains for some of them. Fortunately, those still in place are carefully cared for and offer the curious a story to discover, a beauty to slowly ponder as they progress toward the choir.

Superb castle in the Perche!

superb car-free road

Unfortunately, the church was not accessible when I visited (mid-September 2024). You could only look in through a gate and the dance of death depictions on the left side were not really visible. In front of them were transparencies with skeleton drawings. Maybe those were the depictions...

Formerly La Loupe, Vaupillon and Saint Eliph formed only one parish called the Trinity of the Woods. The church contains a set of 3 painted stone altarpieces from the 17th century. One is dated 1646 and signed Delahays: it includes 3 sculptures: a trunk of grace, representation of the trinity in which God the father holds before him his son on the cross, the dove of the Holy Spirit hovering above his head You can also see a statue of the local saint in painted and gilded stucco and a Saint Sebastian in painted stucco, characteristic of the counter-reformation. A small chapel to the north was added in the 19th century which contains a pieta.

Of course there is the castle but the rest of the village is really worth a stop (church, wash house, half-timbered house, etc.)

A modest place of worship, built in the middle of a tiny village, the Favril church was there as early as 1250. Under the reign of Saint Louis, Saint-Pierre du Favril was already there. This is confirmed by a register of the diocese of Chartres, drawn up in 1250, which mentions a parish church dedicated to Saint-Pierre au Favril (Faverilium). The text adds that there was a priest and 56 parishioners.