The best traffic-free bike rides around Saint-Viâtre

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.

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

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.