Discover Saint-Hilaire-De-Villefranche

Saint-Hilaire-De-Villefranche brings together religious architectural history and a landscape suited to walking and cycling routes. The Romanesque Église Saint-Hilaire dates from the 12th century; the Chapelle Saint-Martin lies in a valley a few kilometres from the town centre. Activities include the 10.5 km Circuit La Table du Roi – PR 26 walking trail and an orienteering course. Cognac Baudry offers tours. This gives you a choice of distinct focuses for your stay: cultural history, outdoor activity, and a tour.

Churches and architectural history

The Église Saint-Hilaire was built in the 12th century. The church contains a tombstone that has been protected as a historic monument since 1984. Its bell is among the oldest in the département. The construction date, the tombstone’s protected status, and the bell’s historical significance provide three distinct points of cultural and historical interest in this religious building.

The Chapelle Saint-Martin was built in the 14th century in a valley a few kilometres from the town centre. Two Romanesque windows illuminate its nave; the chapel also contains the tomb of the Roumefort family. Compared with the Église Saint-Hilaire, the period and architectural features differ: here, the focus is on a 14th-century building, its windows, and the family tomb; there, on the 12th-century Romanesque church, its protected tombstone, and its bell. You can compare the two religious buildings by their distinct features and dates of construction.

Landscape and routes

The landscape around Saint-Hilaire-De-Villefranche includes valleys, forests, grain fields, vineyards, villages built with Saintonge stone, and the Bramerit River. It is suited to walking and cycling routes. Unlike the individual churches, this setting provides a broader backdrop for outdoor activities. If you are weighing up walking and cycling as different options, you can plan around your preferred type of activity while also taking the varied landscape into account.

Walking trail and orienteering course

The Circuit La Table du Roi – PR 26 is a 10.5 km walking trail in Saint-Hilaire-De-Villefranche. This distance gives you a specific figure to help fit a walk into your day’s plans. Also in Saint-Hilaire-De-Villefranche is the orienteering course Course d’orientation – E.S.O Saint-Hilaire de Villefranche – Circuit Jaune. The two activities differ in format: a walking route with a stated length and an orienteering course. To choose between them, you can first decide whether you would prefer to plan a walking route or an orienteering course.

Tours at Cognac Baudry

Cognac Baudry offers tours of a former family distillery built in 1887, featuring a collection of old tools. The tour combines the history of the distillery building with its tool collection, adding a different cultural and historical theme to the religious buildings.

Discover more destinations: Forges, Louzignac, La Vergne, Blanzay-Sur-Boutonne, Saint-Sulpice-De-Royan, Soubise, Sainte-Marie-De-Ré, Brie-Sous-Archiac

See the broader travel guide: Charente-Maritime.