The best traffic-free bike rides around Béville-Le-Comte

In the 15th century, the original church, probably from the 12th century, was burned down. During the reconstruction, a side aisle was added. The bell tower dates from the late 19th century, as do the painted motifs on the walls.

Located on the pilgrimage route to Chartres, the parish of Orphin was at the borders of the lands of Montfort, the Count of Prunelé, Port-Royal and the Bishopric of Chartres. Surrounded by four fortified houses, the village takes its name "orfin" from the gold of the wheat of the Beauce. The Sainte Monégonde church was erected in the 11th century and established as a parish in the 16th century. The framework bears the date of 1552 and the bells 1556. A polychrome wooden statue from the 17th century, which represents Saint Teresa of Avila, is located near the choir. There is also, on a pillar, a coat of arms depicting the lion of Montfort. A chapel and the bell tower could be earlier than the rest of the building. The large nave could be the result of an extension of the small lateral nave. Indeed, the lateral nave and the central pillars seem older than the other elements of the church. The church suffered a serious fire at the end of the 19th century which destroyed the vault of the large nave and damaged the south wall which were rebuilt. The current stained glass windows were made by Charles Lorin, master glassmaker in Chartres, in 1914. The characters are depicted in the effigy of the donors. The stoup is described as dating from the 16th century but it is probably older. Several paintings from the 17th and 19th centuries adorn the walls of the church. The main altar and the altar of Saint Joseph date from the 1850s.

According to tradition, the church choir covers the remains of an older building, possibly dating back to the 6th century, which was built to house the saint's body. According to current knowledge, the commune of Saint-Piat (Sanctus Piatus in Latin) officially appeared in 1087, mentioned in a charter of the Nottonville Priory (Eure-et-Loir), on which it depended. The current building was rebuilt during the time of Francis I, as suggested by the date 1535 engraved on two buttresses of the apse and the date 1542 engraved on a piece of wood from the vault. This is according to a study by the SAEL (Eure-et-Loir Archaeological Society). The three-sided apses, the dripstone towers (horizontal members projecting from a wall), and the sculpted roof structures are a testament to the importance of the reconstructions carried out in the department during the 16th century. The church of Saint-Piat is one of them. While the church has not been officially recognized, it nevertheless contains objects that have attracted attention both for their antiquity and quality, but not always for good reason. Their artistic value, far from attracting only religious or aesthetic interest, has also aroused a covetousness that, unfortunately, remains for some of them. Fortunately, those still in place are carefully cared for and offer the curious a story to discover, a beauty to slowly ponder as they progress toward the choir.

Before 528, the village of Saint-Prest was called Saint-Jean-sur-Eure. At that time, the Bishop of Chartres, Ethère, had a building built adjoining the southern flank of the parish church, including a "martyrium" to house the remains of holy martyrs (the legend of Saint-Prest), which were placed in ten sarcophagi. The most honored relics were those of a certain Priscus; following numerous miracles, the parish took the name of Saint-Prest. The current church's crypt is the apse of the 9th-century Carolingian church, which replaced a 6th-century sanctuary. Access to the 12th-century nave, on the west side, is through a beautiful Romanesque portal, carved from beautiful limestone, surmounted by a triple saw-tooth archivolt and framed by two small columns with capitals. On the right, a face would be that of Eve, and on the left would appear the tempting serpent.

Don't be surprised if you spot flamingos 🦩 on the banks of the pond. They're still there, despite the park being closed for many years.

In the village of Houville (parish of the Epiphany), the crypt, closed for decades, was reopened on February 1, 2020. It contains a well and wall paintings dating back to the 12th century. This crypt is therefore an important place in the village's history, a place of pilgrimage to Saint Léger, with a miraculous spring! Houville also saw the conversion of Célestine Paragot at the end of the 17th century, who, with her strong personality, led the villagers to Christ. This village figure encountered Christ while convalescing after a fall, and her conversion attracted many people. The church and presbytery were expanded and decorated, and thus Houville became known as Houville the Saint, or the Island of Sanctity. The village's vocation continued into the 20th century, as the hamlet (now home to 450 people) offered the Lord 8 priests and 8 nuns, one of whom was at the Visitation. During the war, the crypt served as a refuge for the arrival of German troops, as evidenced by the initials HF that François Heurtault inscribed in June 1940.

beautiful church with an imposing facade

The church, located in the heart of the village, is originally a Romanesque building composed of a nave from the 11th and 12th centuries, ending with a cul-de-four apse in blocking and pierced by three Romanesque bays with splays. Today, the central bay is hidden. An imposing western massif precedes the nave, it has been modified over the centuries, in particular in the second half of the 18th century, and it has a squat bell tower. The entire tower is treated in local limestone as well as the buttresses, the frame of the portal and the bays. The church was enlarged at the beginning of the 16th century by the addition of a chapel to the south and by the addition, a little later in the century, of an aisle. Its dimensions are approximately 30 m long and 18 m wide. The facade is very sober; It is pierced by a door with a broken profile whose external arch is highlighted by a dripstone. An oculus was opened in the upper part of the gable wall. The church underwent major work between 1880 and 1925 approximately. In 1879-1880, the sacristy was completely redone, then in 1912 the entire roof was redone in slate with the exception of the apse. The interior porch is the most carefully designed element of this architecture. The semicircular portal, giving direct access to the nave, is enhanced by a molded torus with a diamond point pattern falling on small columns. This porch is covered with a ribbed vault which falls on the four corner columns with foliate capitals. The nave and aisle are covered with a paneled framework which suffers from disorders. The vaults of the choir and the apse were restored over the centuries and their stained glass windows were made during a campaign between 1919 and 1924. The chapel of the Virgin and the corbels were decorated with paint at the end of the 19th century. The altar and the canopy of the Virgin are in the neo-Gothic style. Two notable elements of the old statuary remain: a quality statue of the Virgin, probably from the 16th or 17th century and a small Saint Vincent of local manufacture. The condition of the framework and the roof of the choir required work, as did all the timbers which had to be treated. To this end, the Sauvegarde de l’Art français made a contribution of €5,000 in 2011.