The best traffic-free bike rides around Salbris

The two periods of construction of the chapel are clearly distinguishable: the timber-framed walls date from 1600, while the brick façade and walls date from 1863. The Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, which had been falling into ruin for many years, holds a special place in the heritage of Pierrefitte. Historians have pondered this legend, which is also found in other villages. Louis de la Saussaye (a 19th-century historian) offers a rational explanation for the chapel's location: Everyone knows that Pierrefitte owes its name to "Pierre fichée," meaning a planted stone. This stone marked the boundary between two Gallic tribes and also served as a religious monument. The Catholic religion was emerging and developing, but this stone remained an object of veneration until quite late in the Middle Ages (1100-1200). The presence of the legendary oxen licking the stone is explained by the fact that the local people secretly worshipped the last remaining monument of the ancient cult and, as tradition dictated, sprinkled milk and honey upon it. The chapel would therefore have been built on the site of this Gallic stone. All of this, of course, is only legend or hypothesis, but written documents dating back to 1600 (during the reign of Henry IV) allow us to glimpse the history of our chapel. In the 16th and 17th centuries, travelers taking the Orléans-Bourges road, whether on horseback or on foot, such as the stonemasons from La Marche who were returning in search of work, were accustomed to spending the night in one of the five inns or "hostelleries" in our village. The quality of these inns was indeed highly regarded at the time, and in the evening, people didn't hesitate to travel a few extra kilometers to stop at "La Croix Blanche," "Le Lion d'Or," "Le Sermon," "Le Trois Rois," or "Le Sauvage" (according to Henri Deletang). This was an opportunity to stop at the Chapel of the Leper Colony, and to care for their souls, Lord or peasant, merchant or beggar, didn't hesitate to throw a few offerings into it. There was a collection box placed within easy reach, but people preferred to toss coins through the bars onto the chapel floor.

The original church certainly predates the year 1000, not in its current form, but already in its design as a fortified church. The chancel was built in 1667. The church includes a large, square, keep-like tower, indicating a 12th-century origin. In 1881 and 1887, two chapels forming a transept were added at the end of the nave and in front of the chancel. The north chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built in 1884/1885. The south chapel, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was financed in 1887/1888. Modern stained-glass windows, the one in the apse from the Dideron workshop and the others from the Lobin workshop in Tours, adorn several of the windows. All of these stained-glass windows were donated by prominent families of Nouan. Upon entering the nave, the first stained-glass windows are the work of Auguste Labouret, a renowned Parisian glassmaker and mosaicist. In the tower, above the entrance portal, is a 1930 stained-glass window depicting Our Lady of Mount Carmel (this is a listed work, included in the supplementary inventory of works of art). Then come the first two stained-glass windows, one on each side of the nave, one representing St. Anthony of Padua preaching to the fish, the other St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus entering the Garden of Carmel.

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The parish church of Saint-Étienne was at the disposal of the Abbot of Jargeau. Of Romanesque origin, the building has a single nave on which are grafted a chapel to the north and south, a straight bay under the bell tower, supported by a sacristy to the north and a polygonal choir. The latter belongs to the 16th century. It includes a three-sided apse preceded by a straight bay. The whole, vaulted with ribs, is lit by five bays with flamboyant tracery similar to the two windows of the bay of the bell tower, contemporary with the choir. This has a square plan. Four pillars projecting strongly from the interior of the nave, receiving the four arches which carry all the masonry of the bell tower, accentuate the tripartite division of the interior volume of the building. The open door, in the north gutter wall, on the sacristy rebuilt in the 20th century, is surmounted by two pinnacles resting on sculpted bases framing an accolade. The lintel was once decorated with a coat of arms. The nave, Romanesque in its external volumes, was necessarily reworked from the 16th to the 19th century. It was probably originally a simple framed vessel whose gutter walls were supported on the outside by flat buttresses with slight projections. In the 16th century, the paneled barrel vault, still preserved in the attic, was hidden by ribbed vaults; the engaged columns which receive the ribs, as well as the corner buttresses visible on the facade belong to this campaign of works. Subsequently, a rectangular chapel was attached to the north wall; the south chapel, built in brick and cut stone, dates from the 19th century, as do the six windows with trefoil lintels illuminating the nave, the rose window pierced in the facade and the gallery installed at its back. A brick vault replaced the 16th century vault on the nave. The semicircular portal, extensively reworked, was formerly protected by a timber-framed porch. The three parts of the building are clearly differentiated in the exterior elevation of the building. The nave, not very high, as well as the choir, with its more slender roof, are dominated by the silhouette of the bell tower. Square in plan, it has four levels punctuated by dripstones; the upper level is pierced with two twin bays per face. The bell tower is crowned by a timber spire. The Sauvegarde de l’Art Français granted aid of 50,000 F in 1993 for the repair of the exterior masonry.

Behind this impressive gate is one of the most beautiful estates in Salbris, with at the end of this avenue the private castle of Rivaulde, all brick and half-timbered. It was built in 1524 and then belonged to the lords of Ferté-Imbault. It belonged to the painter Toulouse-Lautrec in the 19th century, who sold it to the Schneider brothers, who had the castle rebuilt by the architect Coulon, then nicknamed "little Vaux-le-Vicomte". Henri Schneider did not see the end of the work in 1902 and it was his wife who made it her main residence.

Let yourself be charmed by this magnificent castle with a history as rich as its architecture. Built in 980 on an old leveled mound, it is the largest brick castle in Sologne and one of the oldest. It was partly destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries, notably during the Renaissance, and saw illustrious people pass through, including Joan of Arc. Jacques d'Estampes, the first Marquis de la Ferté-Imbaud was ambassador to England and Marshal of France. With his wife Catherine-Blanche de Choiseul, they particularly marked the history of this castle. It is now possible to visit it and privatize it for events.

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the pretty discovery of a beach at the bend of a path going down there ...