The best traffic-free bike rides around Les Autels-Villevillon

Religious building dating back to the 11th century and expanded during the Renaissance. The first parish church of Nogent-le-Rotrou dates back to the 11th century, and its expansion dates from the 15th and 16th centuries. Beautiful bell tower topped with a lantern surrounded by an ornate gallery.

The inhabitants of Margon can admire the church of Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel, proudly dominating the old town on its rocky spur, at the corner of two green valleys. It was later given an aisle during the 16th century, but its Romanesque portal has been preserved. It reigns benevolently over the old cemetery which surrounds it and which has recently been enlarged due to the increase in the population of the commune.

In the Middle Ages, Saint-Avit-au-Perche was a priory of the abbey of Saint-Calais, founded by Avit's companion. Today's church dates from the very beginning of the 12th century. It consists of a five-bay nave ending in a semicircular apse. It is covered with chestnut shingles. Several original windows remain; others have been reworked (including the first window, on the north side). This can be seen in the shape of the keystones. A walled-up side door to the south can be seen from the outside. It has an enormous mitre lintel. Inside, it has been transformed into a niche housing Our Lady of Lourdes. The apse is flanked by projecting buttresses. Those at the corners of the façade are from the 15th century. The western portal in a pointed arch is a 15th-century renovation that was completely redone at the end of the 20th century.

Occupying mainly a hill dominated by a curious dome-shaped bell tower, the territory of Brunelles has a rich historical past, sometimes even bordering on the marvelous. If the very ancient occupation of the place is attested to in Bois-Jahan, the disappearance of the village of La Ferrière and its church of La Madeleine during the Hundred Years' War (14th-15th century), give the hamlet of Vieux Murs a legendary air... A fortified castle and a chapel below probably stood here. Furthermore, because the lords of Brunelles who were the vassals of the Rotrou, were required to guard the Saint-Jean castle, one of the towers of the Nogent castle still bears the name of the village today. Situated on a rocky peak, the Saint-Martin church is visible from afar. Built in the 15th century, most of it, including the spire, was unfortunately destroyed by fire, and only the stone choir with a semi-circular vault is original. The nave is lit on each side by three flamboyant-style windows, and in the choir you can admire the beautiful stone altarpiece that has recently been restored. You will also notice an oculus on the south face, found during the 1998 restoration campaign, and enriched with a recent stained glass window illustrating the Creation. Finally, visitors should not fail to stop by the relics of the young Alexander, tortured for refusing to renounce his faith in Christ, as were other saints called martyrs for this, from the Greek "witnesses". There are thus many relics in our churches: they can be found at the first origin of basilicas, often built on ancient funerary areas on the outskirts of ancient cities. The relics of the saints are to be considered as the very humble signs of what their bodies were, the evocation of their human condition: it is with their bodies that the saints acted, thought, prayed, worked, suffered and experienced death. The monastery of the Val d’Arcisses was the first foundation of the monk Bernard d’Abbeville, later called Bernard de Thiron, because the monks of St.-Denis de Nogent-le-Rotrou would not let him do it! Bernard had to settle nearby, in the parish of Gardais, under the protection of the bishop of Chartres, Saint Yves and de Rotrou, Count of Perche. He had been established in a manor located between Brunelles and Ozée. The Notre-Dame-du-Val-d’Arcisses abbey welcomed Benedictine nuns during the 17th and 18th centuries. Destroyed during the Revolution, all that remains is the gatehouse, a beautiful arch embedded in a façade. One of the monks' major works was to dig the Arcisses canal, a diversion from the Cloche: it irrigated the abbey's lands and supplied the fountain which flowed near the Notre-Dame church in Nogent-le-Rotrou.

Very pretty trompe l'oeil

Beautiful castle. Unfortunately it was closed.

From its source to its confluence with the Ozanne, the Sainte-Suzanne covers 19.2 km and crosses 5 communes. From upstream to downstream: Authon-du-Perche; Beaumont-les-Autels; Coal pits; Les Altars-Villevillon; A glass.

Building built in the 15th century, ribbed vaulted, with straight apse; beginning of the 16th century, c. 1530, construction of the Sainte-Barbe chapel on the south side; Renaissance stained glass, not. Tree of Jesse (surviving fragments); 17th century altarpiece and high altar. History of protection: the classification order of April 25, 2003 replaces the classification order of February 11, 1911 and the registration orders on the supplementary inventory of historic monuments of January 20, 1926 and February 4, 2002.