The best road cycling routes around Bellême

The priory was founded at the beginning of the 11th century and is dedicated to Saint Gauburge (or Walburge), abbess of a large Bavarian monastery in the 8th century. Originally owned by the lords of Bellême, it passed, from the 12th century, to the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis-en-France. From the end of the 15th century, it was directly dependent on royal power until the Revolution. An important rural estate, its buildings bear witness to its special status and the magnitude of its revenues. Since 1972, it has housed the headquarters of the Perche Ecomuseum, which bears witness to the peasant life of the Perche and develops a diverse cultural program.

The Saint-Martin church, listed as a Historic Monument, is located in Nocé, Normandy. It was probably built in the 12th century near the ruined and abandoned Nocé castle after the Hundred Years' War. Originally, the church was surrounded by a cemetery that was moved in the 18th century. In the 15th century, the walls were razed and the Romanesque framework of the nave replaced by a new paneled framework. In the 16th century, after the troubles of the Hundred Years' War, the building was modified: a single large roof was built in place of the various previous volumes and the framework was transformed, a new chapel was added against the south facade and a stone bell tower was built to the right of the nave. This tower, square from base to top, stands twenty meters high. The church is composed of a rectangular nave, three bays and a choir with a Romanesque semicircular chevet. A succession of three chapels opens a side aisle separated from the nave by pillars. The chapels are covered with ribbed vaults. A sacristy is fitted out behind the church. Note the altarpiece and the tabernacle in painted and gilded wood with steps, installed in the choir and lit by two bays with tracery, a painting presenting the disciples of Emmaus and one of the Annunciation, as well as a polychrome terracotta statue and a stone statue of Saint Madeleine without forgetting a stone statue of Our Lady of Pity.

The nave is covered with a wooden vault with exposed beams. The archivolts of the Romanesque door are decorated with saw teeth. The west gable wall is topped with a slender bell tower. The interior contains three classical altars whose designs were apparently made by Mansard at the request of Louvois, owner of the Prairie de Marcilly.

The Saint-Rémy church is one of these churches surrounded by their cemetery and a surrounding wall forming a parish enclosure. In the cemetery, a cut boxwood path leads to the entrance to the church which is via a bell tower-porch. The latter, square and low, is topped with a spire covered in slate, like the rest of the church. The sacristy, at the rear of the apse, is covered in tiles. The church consists of a single nave onto which two small chapels open, dedicated respectively to the Sacred Heart and the Virgin. Unpretentious from the outside, the Saint-Rémy church is however not without surprises. The choir, slightly narrower than the nave, is decorated with monumental paintings evoking the Passion of Christ (19th century). The choir vault is also painted. The altarpiece, with black marble columns, has in its center a beautiful high-relief panel representing the Baptism of Christ (limestone, early 18th century). The altars (Main altar and altars in the side chapels) are in pink and black marble (18th century). A choir enclosure, decorated with two angels, separates the choir from the nave (19th century). Two beautiful wooden confessionals with carved pediments (17th century), set into the wall, frame the entrance to the interior of the nave. At the entrance to the bell tower-porch, you can admire the coat of arms of François Bohier, dated 1553. He was the dean of the chapter of Tours on which the cure of Sérigny then depended. These stones were found in 1972, in the gable of the church, during the renovation of the sacristy. The four historic stained glass windows are from the 20th century (one is dated 1939) and obviously come from the same workshop but are not signed.

Listed as a historic monument since 1975, the Saint-Pierre church dates from the 13th century. It is located in the pretty little town of Mauves-sur-Huisne.

very pretty

The church is dedicated to Saint Martin. Its nave is paneled. You can see an altarpiece from the 17th Century there. The square bell tower has a plaque in its tower dated 1618 and engraved letters. The sundial is dated 1605. We can read the sentence: Christ directs the stars.

The church is cited from the year 1000. Jouin was a hermit and monk, founder of Ension Abbey in the 15th century, venerated as an apostle of the west. It is made up of 4 aligned chapels. Its beautiful entrance porch is in Renaissance style with Florentine decor. On the bell tower there is a cross on each side surmounted by a rooster and the other by a hen. If you ask the inhabitants of Dancé why, they will answer you with a smile and a play on words: “because it takes two to dance” The altarpiece dates from the 18th century and the sacristy door is in the Louis XIII style. The choir has a large wooden altar painted in the Louis XV style. In the heart appears a wall plaque in memory of Blessed Jacques Jean Lemeunier (1747-1792), vicar in Dancé from 1783 to 1786. We can see a statue of Saint Barbara in polychrome terracotta. The modern stained glass windows are by Paul Bony.