Attractions and Places To See around Pommiers-Moulons - Top 18

You have to be very careful with the roots of the acacias which lift the bitumen in places as well as the thorns of these trees. Otherwise very pleasant.

Consider deviating from the cycle path for a few minutes. Church your real the detour

Some sections of the track are damaged by tree roots and dangerous on a road bike. I often prefer to go by road.

The church is in the form of a rectangle thirty meters long and ten meters wide, flanked by 4 buttresses, one of which is located on the north wing and the 3 others on the south wing, a bell tower and a small extension on the south west part housing a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Massive building, reinforced by buttresses, low and poorly lit, it has a facade with a Romanesque portal surmounted by a large rose window. This gate is made up of 2 straight legs, and a projecting coving made up of 3 semicircular rollers with a keystone. The oculus rose is surrounded by a frieze with a sawtooth motif. The porch opens onto a single nave 22 m long by 9 wide without side aisles. It is made up of 4 bays with semi-circular vaults. The south wall is pierced under the 1st bay with a large semi-circular arch giving access to the chapel. The north wall has a pulpit which bears a monogram which would be that of Louis XIV. The choir of the church, raised from the nave by 3 steps, consists of a flat chevet and a span of semi-circular vaults. The bedside wall is pierced at each end with a rectangular door allowing access to the sacristy. The old sacristy has just been refurbished and has a very modern look with paneling on the floor and ceiling. The chapel of the Virgin is located on the southern extension of the church. It measures 13.50 m long by 7 wide, and consists of a small single nave 10 m long by 7 wide and a choir with a flat apse. The floor of this chapel is 1.25 m lower than the floor of the church corresponding to the initial floor of the old abbey. Access to the bell tower is through a door located on the east wall of the nave of the chapel. It consists of 4 floors and a vaulted ground floor. The facing is made up of medium-sized cut stone for the ground floor and the 1st floor and rubble stone coated with brown lime for the 2nd and 3rd floors.

The church of Saint-Pierre depended in the 14th century on the abbey of La Couronne (Charente). Of Romanesque origin (12th and 13th centuries), it has suffered numerous damages and many restorations have taken place. The gable facade is pierced in its central axis by an early 16th century portal with a grooved arch, framed by prismatic tori and flanked by two blind bays. The whole is surmounted by a rose window. The side walls are perforated with narrow openings, some of which are underlined with a diamond-point cord. The 12th century building has a single nave with a trefoil choir. The semi-circular chevet is decorated with a chamfered cornice decorated with zigzags on brackets engraved with various subjects. Many engraved names accompanied by dates from the 18th century are visible on the bedside wall. The interior of the nave is covered with a semi-circular barrel vault. On the south side, a 16th century crypt is occupied by a tomb decorated in the flamboyant style. The two apsidioles vaulted in cul-de-four give the church a trefoil plan. The square of the transept supported the old bell tower. All that remains are back-to-back columns adorned with claw bases and worked grooves. The sculptures accompanying the pilasters are modern. The bell tower was redone in concrete with an external staircase in place of the previous one, which itself replaced the original bell tower, which fell in the 1950s. Under the modern, octagonal bell tower, there is a mass of columns with ornate capitals and bases (foliage, animals, colorful characters). The choir is barrel-vaulted with a semi-circular arch. The chancel columns are also adorned with claw bases on the north side and flutes on the south side. The cul-de-four apse is openworked with three similar windows with small columns. Paintings of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul. Tomb with recumbent in the habit of an ecclesiastic whose head and hands have been destroyed. The Saint-Pierre church was classified as a historical monument in 1970.

In the second half of the 12th century, a long nave (32 x 8 m) was built, with a west facade with blind arcades and a flat chevet. In the 13th century, the west portal was rebuilt up to date and the nave received perhaps its first ribbed vaults. A Gothic bell tower-porch was built in front of the nave in the 15th century, which lengthened the church by some five metres. The floor surmounted by a spire is pierced with twin bays, underlined by a cord. Its base forms a marthex. On each side of this closed porch are two small chapels with vaults decorated with coats of arms and reproducing corner consoles sculpted with grotesque characters. The 12th century facade is pierced by an ogival portal. The arches fall on the 3 capitals of the torus columns. The door is flanked by 2 blind arched bays with a zigzag band and diamond points. Around the portal, an inscription: “The French recognize the existence of the supreme being and the immortality of the soul”. In the 15th century, the nave was doubled to the north. This vaulting was destroyed during the wars of religion and the ribbed vaults were redone in 1872. The large broken arches which separate the 2 vessels from the nave fall into penetration on large cylindrical piles. On the south wall, a group of 3 columns decorated with large foliage receives the ribs of the vaults. The south side wall from the nave to the chevet was rebuilt with old materials, some of which are carved stones. The large tracery canopy is followed by 3 Romanesque windows decorated with billets and diamond points. The choir with a flat apse is lit by a Romanesque triplet with small columns and polylobed arches. It is a provision that we find rather outside the churches. Outside, these 3 windows have no columns and are surmounted by a cornice shaped like a whistle on brackets and a large half-moon opening. In 1996-1998, a restoration campaign brought to light mural paintings and a funerary liter, a striking portrait of death. Special features to see also: a very beautiful stone pulpit and wrought iron railing from the 19th century as well as an oil on canvas, "Crucifixion", from the beginning of the 19th century.

A bike path, only for bikes and in the countryside! 35 kms from Barbezieux to Clérac in complete peace of mind on a paved road, a real pleasure! Surprising but very pleasant especially for families with children who can walk there in peace.

Baignes Abbey became a parish church after the revolution. It was part of the diocese of Saintes until the middle of the 19th century. The foundation of the Abbey would seem to date back to the 11th century. It was ransacked during the 100 Years War and then destroyed by the Protestants. The current building is totally different from the Old Abbey due to the destruction/modifications that have taken place.