Discover Saint-Arnoult-Des-Bois

Saint-Arnoult-Des-Bois offers two clearly distinct themes to help you plan your trip: a Romanesque church with local history, and the stone remains of the Canal Louis XIV. There is also a clearly located memorial site in the churchyard. If you are looking for a hotel for a stay in the area, these points of interest can help you tailor your trip to your interests in architecture, history, or cycling. When choosing a hotel, you can consider whether church and local history, historic water engineering, or cycling will be the main focus of your trip.

Church and Local History

The Église Saint-Arnoult is a Romanesque church. In 1117, Goinville had a church dedicated to Saint Arnoul. The name Saint-Arnoult-des-Bois first appears in a document from 1390. These two dates refer to different historical points: 1117 concerns a church in Goinville, while 1390 marks the written mention of the place name. The first mention of the name should therefore not be equated with the date of the church.

Goinville is apparently considered the birthplace of Saint-Arnoult-des-Bois; the early name “Gaudeni-villa” is associated with Roman origins. This brings a cautiously worded interpretation of local history together with specific historical facts. For travelers interested in how a place name evolved, this offers a different perspective from the Romanesque architecture of the Église Saint-Arnoult.

Arche à Mulet and the Canal Louis XIV

The Arche à Mulet marks the route of the Canal Louis XIV. The stone structure carried the canal over an earth embankment, while the Coisnon stream flows beneath the arch. At 30 meters long, two meters wide, and two meters high, the structure’s size can be precisely understood. These measurements describe the arch itself, while the canal works were part of a larger historical undertaking.

Work on the Canal Louis XIV began between 1685 and 1688 and was abandoned in 1694. The canal was intended to supply water to the Palace of Versailles. Two different scales are therefore involved: the arch as an individual stone structure marking the canal’s route, and the ambitious objective of the canal project. The surviving structures of the Canal Louis XIV, including the Arche à Mulet, are presented to walkers as remains to discover.

Cyclists also have a specific point of reference: the 32-kilometer “Royal Canal” cycling route passes near the Arche à Mulet. The route’s length and the arch’s dimensions describe very different scales—a 32-kilometer circuit and a structure 30 meters long. This makes it possible to place a visit to the arch in the broader context of the canal’s history, without confusing the structure’s length with the route’s.

Memorial Site in the Churchyard

At Saint-Arnoult-des-Bois Communal Cemetery, the churchyard opposite the church’s west portal contains a communal grave for two members of the Royal Canadian Air Force. One of them was Pilot Officer William Gracie: he served with 433 Sqdn. of the Royal Canadian Air Force, died on July 5, 1944, and is listed in a communal grave in the cemetery. Its location opposite the west portal gives the memorial site a clear spatial connection to the church; the details about Gracie add a personal historical remembrance to the architectural and local history.

Discover more destinations: Havelu, Brunelles, Beauche, Chapelle-Guillaume, La Bazoche-Gouet, Saint-Jean-de-Rebervilliers, Tréon, Nogent-Le-Rotrou.

For the broader travel overview: Eure-Et-Loir.