The best cycling routes around Saint-Épain

Crissay-sur-Manse is one of the most beautiful villages in France. The Manse River, which gives the village its name, flows through the southern part of the municipality. Sights: - Saint-Maurice Church (early 16th century) - Houses from the 15th and 16th centuries - Castle ruins (15th century)

This café belongs to the Auberge de Crissay, but you can stop even if you are not staying at the establishment. The view is magnificent! https://www.logishotels.com/fr/hotel/logis-auberge-de-crissay-254579?partid=1535

This private castle is an ancient fortress of which only: the large medieval moat in its entirety and which forms 2 quadrilaterals and a 3-sided figure 5 cylindrical towers including the South-East tower pierced with circular loopholes called “couuvrine tower”. The current castle was built in several stages. The residential house which dates from the 16th century had its facades completely remodeled in 1856. Part of it disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century. To the South-West a main building covered with a 4-sloped roof and presenting stone casement windows on the ground floor had been joined by another building in 1731; these buildings were demolished in 1979

A very nice road

Crissay sur manse is one of the most beautiful villages in France. These stone houses, its church, its washhouse make it a must in the area.

The Courtineau valley is a valley located in the municipalities of Saint-Epain and Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, in the Center-Val de Loire region. Six kilometers long, it has many troglodyte dwellings, water mills, washhouses ... It is classified as a natural area of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest (ZNIEFF) because of its remarkable character. The chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, carved into the rock, would have been the refuge of a hermit in the fourteenth century2. On March 6, 1429, Joan of Arc would have taken shelter there to protect herself from a downpour while she was traveling the Courtineau valley to go to Chinon to see King Charles VII, after two nights spent in Sainte-Catherine-de -Proudwood. The water mills: - The Moulin de la Chaise: from 1241 to 1789, it belonged to the Chapter of Saint-Martine de Tours and depended on the Provost of Saint-Epain. - The Courtineau mill - The Malicorne mill: in the fourteenth and at least until the seventeenth century, it depended on the seigneury of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine. We grew hemp there - The Souvres mill. - The mill of Mareille, large building of three floors which appears on the map of Cassini and the Napoleonic land register of 18274. According to the elders, the building was before 1900 a sawmill, the paddle wheel was placed further. The village of Courtineau is made up of troglodyte houses. In the mid-twentieth century he still owned a café, a grocery store and a school.

A nice little village!

Boisbonnard is a fairly attractive ensemble and was extensively altered in 1856. This private castle is an old fortress of which only: - the wide medieval moats in their entirety and which form 2 quadrilaterals and a 3-sided figure - 5 cylindrical towers including the South-East tower pierced with circular loopholes called the “couleuvrine tower”. The surrounding walls disappeared, the eastern ones were pulled down in 1856. Access is controlled by 2 entrance towers, capped with pepper shakers, guarding the wooden footbridge which replaced the drawbridge. A portal with a curved pediment connects them. The enclosure demolished in the last century has retained 3 corner towers. The current castle was built in several stages. The residential building, which dates from the 16th century, had its facades completely redesigned in 1856. Part of it disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century. To the south-west, a main building covered with a 4-pitched roof and presenting stone windows on the ground floor had been lined with another building in 1731; these buildings were demolished in 1979. The outbuildings near the front door were built in Renaissance style around 1856 in place of the old farm buildings. Numerous renovation and restoration works have been carried out since 1994. During the cleaning of the moat an oak door was discovered under the water level. We can assume that there was an underground passage between the castle and the village church or to other undergrounds.