The best traffic-free bike rides around Chaumont-Sur-Tharonne

It's a beautiful castle, that's true, but in a state of disrepair...

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.

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.

"A very old church; two buttresses would allow us to date it to the 11th century," we learn. "Rebuilt in the 13th century, damaged during the Hundred Years' War, it was rebuilt again in the 16th century before being burned down during the Wars of Religion and then looted during the Revolution. Its last restoration dates back to 2014."

Biévre road for a few kilometers a superb overview of the Sologne des Étangs.

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.

Private castle built in 1846 with the particularity of having a geometric brick decor

shooting location of the movie "L 'ECOLE BUISSONIERE"