The best traffic-free bike rides around Vaunoise

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 church of St Pierre des Ormes holds an important place in the heart of the village, surrounded by its pretty flowerbeds. Dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, it has retained its Romanesque portal. After crossing it, you cross the narthex to reach a second door which opens onto the main nave of the building. The wooden vault is barrel-vaulted. An extension was made in the 16th century by adding a side aisle, with two windows which would become dormers. The small door with Renaissance decoration opened onto the cemetery, then adjoining. The current choir was built in the 19th century. The altar is made with two hemp braies supporting a beautiful wooden board. Note, on each side of the choir, wooden niches, one of which houses a statue of St John (with an eagle). A pilgrimage was organized every September 8th to Saint Gourgon, because the fountain was reputed to cure eye diseases. Very popular until the beginning of the 20th century, it was gradually abandoned. The fountain, now filled in, was located in the cellar of a house near the current town hall.

Saint-Rémy Church from the 11th and 16th centuries. Stained glass windows from the 20th century. Altarpiece of the Saint-Julien chapel from the 17th century.

The church of Commerveil is built on a simple plan with a single nave and a straight chevet. According to the town hall's research, this small church dates from the 11th, 12th and 17th centuries. Its small spire can be seen from afar and its ogival windows match its size. Inside, the altarpiece dates from the middle of the 18th century. Behind the wooden tabernacle, we discover a painting representing the Assumption of the Virgin. To the right of the large marble altar, is the statue of Saint Anne and to the left that of the Holy Virgin. On the side aisles, to the right above the altarpiece of the Sacred Heart, we see in a niche the statue of Saint John the Baptist with a sheep. To the left, above the altarpiece of the Virgin with the Sorrowful Heart, is in a niche a statue of Saint Magdeleine. These two altarpieces, in marble and sculpted stone and partly gilded, date from the 17th and 18th centuries and have been listed as historical monuments since 1982. At the top of the nave, there is a Christ on the cross, probably made of wood. A statue of St. Gilles, placed on a wooden base, is located on the back wall of the church. Note a painted paneled vault that dates from the 19th century. The restoration of the church was carried out in the early 1980s.

The Church of Saint-Rémy appears on the cartulary of the Abbey of Saint-Vincent du Mans, however, as usual, it was the Bishop of Le Mans who had the collation of the priest. Rectangular in plan, it has a single nave and a straight chevet lit by a triplet, which was hidden by the installation of a high altar. The church was enlarged in the 15th and 16th centuries by two chapels, placed to the north and south of the nave. The church has some remarkable pieces of furniture: a Christ on the cross and a Saint Anne, in stone, from the 16th century; the tympanum of a stained glass window, open in the south wall, depicting the angels carrying the Instruments of the Passion (16th century); a Pietà in stone from the 16th or 17th century; a Charity of Saint Martin, in stone (15th century). two wooden statues from the 18th century, Saint Leo Fort, pope, and Saint James (mistakenly identified as Saint Martin). Benefiting from a policy of the General Council of Sarthe in favor of contemporary artists, eight bays in this church were entrusted to Michel Madore (Montreal, 1949- ). The work focused on the restoration of the roof and the framework of two bays of the nave. The entire ridge was refinished in lead, including the simple finial, thus replacing the glazed tiles and the terracotta finial.

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.

Dedicated to St Jouin, the church is only mentioned at the end of the 11th century. The building was fortified during the wars of religion. Gunboats (some rotating) are added as well as an underground refuge. You will see one as you go around the church. You can also admire the gargoyles and the magnificent sculpted capitals on either side of the portal. Inside, don't miss the carved keystones and capitals. The building contains quite rich furniture, including a headless sculpture holding a book whose origin and meaning remain mysterious.