Montreuil is a village in the department of Eure-et-Loir, in the Center-Loire Valley region. It is located in the immediate periphery of Dreux which borders it and 80 km west of Paris.
Montreuil is also on the edge of the department of Eure (Normandy). Etymologically, as the forty communes including the term "Montreuil" in their name, the name of the village refers to the ancient presence of a small monastery or a church.
Montreuil has nearly 500 inhabitants (its population doubled at the dawn of the 1970s), but besides its residential vocation, the village has preserved its natural heritage which remains one of the doors of the forest of Dreux.
A visit to Montreuil can begin with the church of Saint-Pierre, of Romanesque style. Some elements date from the 14th century (nave, choir) and rearrangements took place in the XVIth (bays, construction of a portal in 1545, stained glass). The bell tower is still posterior (seventeenth). Inscribed in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments, the church preserves two statues of the sixteenth.
Outside the village, one can go to the locality of Cocherelle to admire a dolmen dating from the Neolithic (about twenty centuries before our era), which attests to the very old settlement of the place.
The 79 arches of the aqueduct of the river Avre, inaugurated in 1893, are worth a look in architectural terms, but more contemporary, on the edge of the communal territory. It transports 80 million liters of water every day to the Paris region!
But Montreuil also has a very rich natural and environmental heritage.
Protected under Natura 2000, the coast of Montreuil on the right bank of the Eure (another course crossing the territory), is part of a chalky slope with rather steep slopes, exposed to the south: a context that allowed the development Of an exceptional flora (orchids, anemones). These lawns can be observed during hikes.
Discovery tours also reveal the richness of the forest of Dreux (former hunting reserve under the old regime), which is now protected.
It is made up of 50% of oaks, but other species are observable: alisiers, pines, charms. An arboretum has even been set up by the NFB.
For hiking and trails, please call +33 2 37 41 49 09.
It should also be noted that the practice of canoeing on Montreuil streams is possible. Information at +33 6 15 87 24 42.