Paris1972-Versailles2003

I needed to split these posts to do credit to these small towns of my belle France, Then, went on passing Les Trois Moutiers in department 86 of Vienne in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine, This is my take on it and the nice Church Saint Hilaire ! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

We did a bit of a detour from Le Fuilet to go into the D39 and passed by Les Trois Moutiers. The town is at the crossroads of three old provinces, Anjou, Touraine and Poitou, on road D 347 in Poitiers (Vienne 86 ) in Angers (Maine-et-Loire 49) and the road D39 from Chinon (Indre-et-Loire 37) to Thouars (Deux-Sèvres 79). Loudun, the nearest town at 8 km.

The Church Saint-Hilaire was demolished in 1888, it had been the parish church since the French revolution. The materials were partially used to build the current church. At the demolition, it was realized that on one of the stones was an inscription from the Carolingian era. The bell tower was in a Roman style. A stream of water, La Barouze, flowed under the high altar of the church. The passage of this stream had required the construction of two vast arcades to support the bedside of the church, thus preventing a compaction which would inevitably have occurred during the heavy waters. The current Church Saint Hilaire occupies an area of 450 m2.  Indeed, the Les Trois Moutiers, originally called Bernezay, once formed three parishes or priories-cures, Notre-Dame, Saint-Hilaire and Saint-Pierre. The first depended on the Abbey of the Trinity of Mauléon, the second of the Abbey of Saint-Savin, the third of Notre-Dame du Château de Loudun. The Church Saint-Hilaire is today the only existing of the churches. Beginning of the construction of the new church was on May 7, 1890, first stone on August 15, 1890, end of the work 1892, This church had a bell tower, single nave, shallow choir with flat bedside, transept without absidioles. The church was dedicated to Notre-Dame du Rosaire, but kept its ancient patronage of Saint-Hilaire.

Some of the other things to see here, me thinik are the true neogothic architectural madness of the 19C, the Château Mothe-Chanderniers was ravaged by a fire in 1932 and abandoned for 85 years. Since then, the ruined castle has imagined a new life in symbiosis with nature. In 2017, the Dartagnans start-up association adopted a castle launched the crazy idea of collectively buying the Mothe-Chandeniers castle in order to save it and propose a new economic model to preserve the heritage. Done deal, nice, The Château de La Roche-Vernaize with its dovecote. The castle is the seat of an old lordship which depended on the barony of Baussay. It was cited in 1246 in the archives of the chapter of Saint-Hilaire then in 1479 in those of the Loudun commandery. The Manoir de Chandoiseau, The current manor was built during the 15C. It replaced a previous construction undoubtedly dating from the 11C. The Château de Ternay ,its story begins in 1439 when Bertrand de Beauvau decided to build it. The rest is Loïc de Ternay the current owner. Also, see the Dolmens of Bernazay, a group of two dolmens, the dolmen of Vaon, Dolmen La Roche-Vernaize, and the menhir the la Pierre-levé-de-Courçé.

Some anecdotes of Les Trois Moutiers, tell us that during the Middle Ages in the vicinity of the town, Saint Louis rendered justice and made hanging on the Tower of Curçay, a lord who had arranged the right to steal the travelers passing over his land. At the end of the 14C, the town changed its name for that of the Les Trois Moutiers in place of the old Bernezay. According to tradition, Joan of Arc, going from Chinon to Poitiers, would have spent a night in the Manoir de Chantdoiseau,manor of the end of the Middle Ages. In the 16C, it was one of the fiefs of the Sainte-Marthe, one of the representatives of which, Scévole of Sainte-Marthe, a poet, was friends of Ronsard. At the time of the Reformation in the 16C, it was a monk of Les Trois Moutiers, François Fouquet, who went to contact Calvin in Poitiers in 1534, and who was thus made the introductory of Protestantism in the Loudun area , who was strongly implanted there. Trace still visible, the fortified farm of the Hacquinière still keeps the shooting embrasures of the wars of religion.

The Vienne dept 86 tourist office on what to see in the area of Les Trois Moutiers: https://www.tourisme-vienne.com/en/preparons/on-fait-quoi/top-15-incontournables/

The town of Les Trois Moutiers on the church:  https://3-moutiers.fr/index.php/service-religieux/

There you go folks, a nice road warrior ride on off the beaten paths towns that are worth a look me think. This was a nice ride to Les Trois Moutiers and we love it, Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!