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According to biblical accounts, the apostle "Saint Jacques" was the first person to be executed for his faith, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, making him an early martyr (blood witness) of Christianity. His tomb in the town named after him, "Santiago de Compostela" (Galicia, Spain), is one of the most famous and important pilgrimage destinations in the world and is often ranked third after Jerusalem and Rome. Yesterday (July 25) was his feast day in the calendar of saints. When this date falls on a Sunday (this was last the case in 2021), the Catholic Church celebrates a special "Holy Year" there (extended by Pope Francis until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic).

The place to take a break in Illiers-Combray.

Very beautiful church from the 15th century with a painted wooden beam ceiling.

Unfortunately, the church was not accessible when I visited (mid-September 2024). You could only look in through a gate and the dance of death depictions on the left side were not really visible. In front of them were transparencies with skeleton drawings. Maybe those were the depictions...

Thivars is mentioned in 966 in the Chartres cartulary. In the 12th century, the church became the property of Josaphat Abbey. The current church was built in the 16th century: a date of 1545 is engraved on a cherub in the turret. It is a very high construction but very irregular, this comes from the fact that it belongs to several eras: ogival style in the windows, the entrance door is Romanesque (it may be the door of the first Romanesque church) . The choir was formerly separated from the nave by an iron grille which disappeared during the French Revolution. The ceiling has pretty paneling dating from 1645. The two side altars are dedicated: one to Notre Dame des Victoires and the other to Saint Joseph. Among the furniture we can note an interesting painting which represents Our Lord pronouncing on a coin. In 1940, two bombs fell less than 30 m from the church, destroying the stained glass windows on the south side which were replaced by grisailles in 1987. Three pretty stained glass windows light up this church: Nativity stained glass window installed by Mr Campin in 1955 Stained glass windows of the village's patron saints, Saint Radegonde and Saint Hilaire, installed in 1900 and 1987 respectively.

The Saint-Germain de Morancez church could date from the 10th century. Its cut stone facade is punctuated by four buttresses framing a portal. This is composed of three concentric arches resting on engaged columns, decorated with capitals. The zigzag decoration of the arches confirms a dating before the 12th century. The occulus surmounting the porch illuminates a semi-circular vaulted nave. This was enlarged with an aisle built much later and where there is an altar dedicated to the Virgin. The furniture remains simple but not without interest with its benches enclosed in painted wood. However, it is worth mentioning a sculpted pulpit from the 18th century. In 1707, the prior-parish priest of Morancez was Nicolas Courvoisier, religious of the Saint-Jean-en-Vallée abbey. A poet, he is notably the author of a Latin ode addressed to the people of Chartres on the death of Paul de Godet des Marais1. He died on May 14, 1742 in Morancez and was buried in the church. (his tombstone remains to be identified.) Although Morancez was a modest parish, in 1851 it benefited from a prestigious gift from Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I, governor of Les Invalides, then in residence at the Château de Gourdez. He offered the church a painting, Moses makes water flow from the rock, painted by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli between 1657 and 1660. This Italian artist had been called to decorate the cabinet called "At the water's edge" of the apartment of Queen Anne of Austria at the Louvre. He created a decor, now dismembered, composed of a set of six paintings devoted to the story of Moses, including the work, classified as a Historic Monument, preserved in our church. Another interesting work which could be attributed to the school of Philippe de Champaigne represents Jesus among the doctors. These two paintings benefited from a restoration in 1998

The church of Barjouville, without a transept, only includes a nave extended by a narrower choir. The north wall of the nave, with three small round-arched windows, dates from the 13th century. But this oldest sanctuary was burned, along with many others in the region, by the mercenaries of the Huguenot army on March 15, 1568 when they had to lift the siege of the city of Chartres, due to a truce, while they were about to enter through a breach made near the Drouaise gate. The reconstruction lasted almost thirty years (the village was poor) and ended with the installation of the bell, melted in August 1598; it is one of the oldest in the department. To the south, the nave is lit by three bays of different sizes and the choir by two others. The bedside, flat, has three semi-circular bays equipped with stained glass windows installed by the Lorin workshops in 1873 and representing the Sacred Heart, Saint James the Major and Saint Laumer. In one of the bays of the choir, fragments of stained glass have been grouped into two square panels, one representing Saint Nicholas and the three children saved from the salt room and the other, undoubtedly, Saint Christopher carrying the child Jesus on his shoulders to cross the river. Note two statues of Saint James which could be from the 16th century and a Saint Leonard, unfortunately covered with a brown wash. Three processional sticks carry naive-style statues of the Virgin, Saint James and Saint Christopher. Finally, a large painting, which hung at the back of the church, is currently being restored. It is a copy, probably from the 17th century, of a “Madonna and Child with Saint Anne” from 1610 by Carlo Saraceni, the original of which is in the National Museum of Rome (Palace Barberini). Work should soon take place to secure the roof and the bell tower and remove the false ceiling which distorts the interior proportions of the church.

Beautiful bay window with spiral staircase in it; unfortunately not available to visit