Le Lussacois, from the plateau to the three valleys

Depart from the town of Lussac-les-Châteaux, latitude 46.4024200 (N 46° 24’ 9”), longitude 0.7247000 (E 0° 43’ 29”)

• Departure tourist office
• Trail of big brandes

• This 1.8 km interpretive trail is a circuit designed to allow visitors to discover the history, flora and fauna of this remarkable vegetation.
• The atmosphere! The course is mysterious, captivating, the uneven width of the line meanders between the different pits converted into ponds, high broom heathers frame the visitor. Interpretation tools are available on the routes. Depending on weather conditions, soils very loose or partially flooded: provide walking shoes or boots. Take away: binoculars and magnifying glass.

• Chapel of Cherchillé

• The farm of Cherchillé has a chapel dedicated to Saint Mark and a fountain whose water "healed" fevers.
• The former chapel of the priory, completely demolished, is rebuilt in the 19th century. and dedicated to Saint Mark. A little further down in the woods is a spring. These places were very frequented by the pilgrims who came to seek the cure of the most various evils, from where the name of Font-Malade given to the fountain. On the edge of the stone of the altar we notice the multiple cuts made with the knife to mix the powder obtained with the water of the fountain. For the visit it is necessary to address the owners of the farm.

• The Saint-Félix de Sillars Church

• Entirely restored in the late 19th century, has retained a door and some medieval sculptures including four caps (12th century) decorated with masks.
• The Saint-Félix church appears in the texts around 1090. In very bad condition it is completely restored at the end of the 19th century. with a new bell tower in 1875 and a new choir in 1890. The vault is supported by clevels of the early 12th century. representing female heads in the west and human heads in the east. To the south, the arms of the castellans of Sillars are carved on the lintel of the side door. The windows were broken by an explosion in 1944.

• Monument to Captain Mangin

• On your left an imposing monument erected to the memory of Mangin, officer died during the revolution of 1848

• The castle of Fouchardière

• The town of Sillars is dotted with many castles and gentlemen of the nineteenth century. : Fouchardière, Hermentin, Barre, Folie, Clossac...

• The Trémail de la Crouzette

• Arriving at the village of La Crouzette we see a work or "trammel" in local dialect, it is a device used to keep the animals while they were doing them.

• The pond of the small mill

• The communal pond located along the Petite Blourde and fed by a spring has various facilities that make it a popular place to relax: camping, paddling pool, children's games, picnic shelters. It is obviously possible to practice fishing but it is also the starting point of several circuits of walk. A fitness trail is set up above the car park, a circuit leads to a Calvary overlooking the valley and another circuit leads to the hillside of Torfou with its remarkable flora.

• Church of St. Gervais and St. Protais - Persac

• The bell tower dates from 1315 as attested by a dedication engraved on a stone on the left side of the church. It was rebuilt in the 19th century. with a change of orientation (the entrance is in the east). There is a nursing virgin in polychrome wood of the fifteenth century, a statue of St. John from a chapel where there were "journeys" for various healings. At the top of the entrance gate of the presbytery the sculpture of a Phrygian cap is due to "humor!" of revolutionaries vis-à-vis the parish priest named Bonnet.

• Saint Honorat Chapel

• Former chapel of pilgrimage, this chapel is the vestige of a vast Merovingian church of the seventh century.
• This chapel corresponds to the apse of a very old church restored in the 12th century. Fired in 1569 by the Protestants it is restored in the late nineteenth century. and largely rebuilt by Father Jean-Baptiste Chauvin thanks to a donation from Viscount Coetlosquet. A Celtic cross at the top of the chapel recalls the Breton origin of the Viscount. The chapel houses an altar, a lid of Merovingian sarcophagus and a burial element of a priest.

• Chateau de la Mothe

• Since the 13th century Feydeau's family possessed two noble places in this district of Persac: the "hostel" of Beauchamp today disappeared and the castle of La Mothe. In ruins it is rebuilt in the 15th century. and surrounded by large ditches formerly supplied with water by a channel from a nearby source. From 1899 the new owner added the southern part in the same style. The current owners organize exhibitions and occasional visits.
• From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, three and five noble families share the territory of the town. Two castles remain: La Mothe with its keep of 1440 and the Brûlonnière rebuilt in 1465

• Valley views

• You discover the Valleys of the Great Blourde and the Vienne with the numerous castles and mansions.

• A picturesque fountain and washhouse
• The villa of Roseaux -Gouex

• park behind the village hall.
• This beautiful house is built in the second half of the 19th century. His name is a nod to his former owners, the Desroseaux family. Purchased by the municipality in 1951 it houses municipal services. Its beautiful park, crossed by a stream extends to the Vienne and has an outdoor swimming pool. (inaugurated in 1959, it is the first uncovered municipal swimming pool of the department).
• It is a popular place to relax under remarkable trees, near sports fields and a campsite.

• Cenotaph of Constable Chandos

• During the Hundred Years War a clash takes place on the bridge over the Vienne Mazerolles. John Chandos who commanded the troops linked to the King of England is mortally wounded in the night of December 31, 1369. He died at the castle of Morthemer where he was buried. Shortly after, a cenotaph is erected in his memory near the place of battle. Moved it is visible today in a small garden on the road to Gouex.

• Minoterie of Mazerolles

• The old bridge where John Chandos was wounded disappeared in the 16th century. It is replaced by a ferry then by a suspension bridge in 1833 and by the current bridge in 1870. Another bridge for the Poitiers-Limoges railway line was built in 1866. And the same year, Alexandre-Philippe Escouault built the the hydraulic mill which operated until 1968. The lock and the imposing building overlooking the Vienne still exist and are being developed.