Feuillade: Churches, Châteaux and Routes

Feuillade combines historic buildings with specifically named cycling and hiking routes, as well as a seasonal offering focused on honey. For planning your trip, the themes are easy to distinguish: at Église Saint-Pierre, the focus is on its architectural form and age; for the routes, it is their length and designated user groups; and for the Miellerie, it is the dates of the summer tours. This gives you concrete starting points for deciding what you would like to focus on during your stay.

Church and Private Châteaux

Église Saint-Pierre de Feuillade dates from the 12th century and is unfinished. Instead of a church tower, it has a campanile; its architecture also includes Romanesque capitals. A campanile is a bell tower, while capitals are the upper sections of columns. The terms therefore describe different parts of the building: the form of the tower and the design of the column tops.

The two private châteaux also bring different historical details into your trip planning. Château de la Petite Mothe dates from the 15th century. It cannot be visited, but can be seen from the road to Nontron. Check its visitor status again before your trip. Château de Belleville is also privately owned. Its tower dates from the 15th century and was remodelled in the 19th century. Historically, the château belonged to the Vigier, De Javerlhac, and De Rouffignac families. At Petite Mothe, the key points are its age, visibility from the road, and visitor restrictions; at Belleville, they are the history of the tower and its family connections.

Circular Routes and Views

The Ronde des Clochers is a permanent 60-kilometre mountain biking route, for which Feuillade is recommended as a starting point. In Feuillade, it meets the 66-kilometre Coteaux du Bandiat circular route. This route is intended for mountain bikers and hikers; the two routes therefore differ both in length and in the explicitly stated user groups. The Trail du Bandiat offers a shorter option for comparison: this 15-kilometre circular route starts in Marthon or Feuillade.

Above Fraisse de Feuillade, hikers can enjoy views of seven church towers. This scenic feature adds a different focus to the route details: here, the emphasis is on the view, while the circular routes are described in terms of length and intended user groups.

Miellerie de Feuillade: Tours and Honey

In July and August, the Miellerie de Feuillade offers tours about bees and honey-harvesting techniques on Mondays at 10:30 a.m. As this is a seasonal offering, check the dates again before your trip. Product tastings are also available on site. The range includes flower, acacia, forest, and spring honey. This lets you plan around a set seasonal date while choosing how much to focus on Feuillade’s other themes—buildings, routes, or honey—according to your interests.

Discover more destinations: Saulgond, Chille, Saint-Angeau, Benest, Cellefrouin, Rivières, Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, Saint-Saturnin.

For the overview of the wider region: Charente.