The best traffic-free bike rides around Thors

A beautiful church with beautiful houses hidden in an ancient but romantic village, it's worth a stop. The Saint-Étienne church in Brives-sur-Charente is recent. It was consecrated in 1868 and reflects the 14th-century Gothic style. It replaced an older church, of which only a baptismal font, listed as a historic object in 1922, and a capital remain. This font, square and made of a single block of siliceous limestone, is a rare specimen of 12th-century sculpture and symbolism. Certain characteristic features, such as the draperies, allow it to be dated to the 1150s. On three sides, we discover the Annunciation made to Mary, then on the main face of the font, Christ officiating in heaven, and finally Christ descending into hell, savior of souls.

This small town of less than 400 inhabitants is located in a hilly and wooded area. It is part of one of the stages of the GR 360 long-distance footpath. It is worth going past the abbey and the church while crossing the town! Both were built at the beginning of the 12th century.

With less than 200 inhabitants, Fenioux is one of the least densely populated municipalities in France. The main attraction is undoubtedly the 12th century Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church, a Saintonge Romanesque style church, built on even older ruins.

Small picturesque town of about 700 inhabitants. The 12th century Saint-Martial church and the castle are worth the detour!

A particularity is located in the gallery of arcature which overhangs the portal. Indeed it has three arched windows on one side of the central window and two semicircular on the other. Note that the two bays on the right occupy the same width as the three on the left. The bell tower, like many others in the region, has a pyramidal roof. Simple columns come to partition the two windows which cover each face. Inside the church, archival documents prove that the nave with two bays was originally vaulted with warheads. Unfortunately, this vault was destroyed during religious wars. Still according to archival documents, it would seem that at the beginning of the 20th century, a narthex, where the catechumens were held, leaned on its facade. Today, it has completely disappeared. The church was classified as a historic monument in 1913. The building underwent a complete restoration in 1935. To admire just next to the church a magnificent and majestic period residence.

The walls of the nave were doubled by means of arcades and it was endowed with a new chevet and a new bell tower. With an elegant silhouette and intact in its southern part, it is openworked with four twin bays on semicircular arches on two floors. The interior has a nave with three bays. A bay separates the nave from the front choir vaulted in blocks of rubble which, very narrow, supports the bell tower. The semi-circular apse is vaulted in cul-de-four. The 19th century side chapel, dedicated to Saint Anthony, is located on the left as you enter. Vaulted in a broken cradle, it has a stucco altar whose base has five broken arch bays. A very beautiful ornate wooden balcony dating from the end of the 19th century is located at the interior entrance of the church. The statue of Notre-Dame de Fontdouce, known as "the Virgin and Child" was sculpted by a monk from the Abbey of Fontdouce around the 15th century. It has been kept in the church of Saint Bris des Bois since the revolution and was once a destination of pilgrimage. On the back wall, a semicircular stained glass window indicates the names of the parish priest, Mr. Hague, and the mayor at the time, Mr. Lévécot (1904). The Priory of St Robert: the chapel destroyed during the wars of religion, the campanile is still in place. Saint Robert once had a great reputation, at the end of the 19th century, children suffering from certain illnesses were still brought there "before sunrise". The church was listed as a Historic Monument in 1973. To visit it you will have to pay your tribute just the price of a slight effort ....... the church is located at the top of the hill overlooking the village and adjoining the cemetery.

Here we find the ruins of the castle of Merpins. In the Middle Ages, it was an important medieval fortress, in what is now Merpins-Vieux-Bourg. A stopover is essential!

Possibility of stopping on the castle side or opposite to observe the splendid facade of the castle.