Alluyes, population 700, 5 miles northwest of Bonneval.

The name is Roman, and comes from the mounds on which the town was built, it has also been called 'Caeser's Camp'.

The area was important for its sheep farming, and weaving, assisted by the soft water of the Loire.

One of the five baronies of Le Perche-Gouet, Alluyes was bought under the Barony of Guillaume le Gouet ( born 1030 ), when he married Mahaut D'Alluyes, as part of the dowry. The area was the stronghold of the Bishop of Chartres, and it was at his request that men were despatched with William to conquer Britain.

At the end of the 1400's Alluyes belonged to Florimund Robertet. All that is left of the old castle is the great round tower of the old keep, and a fortified gate across the moat.

On the left bank of the river stands the church, ( 1400's ); the south side presents a succession of pointed gables corresponding to the bays of the southern aisle..a common architectural feature in this region.

On the left wall of the nave are two gothic murals depicting St.Christopher and the legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead.

On the left side of the nave is a Virgin bearing a representation of the Trinity on her breast, and the arms of Roberet at her feet, dating back to the 1400's.

At number 8 Rue St-Honore is the Hotel d'Alluyes, a fine private mansion built in 1508 for Florimund Robertet, who was successively Treasurer to Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francois I. When accompanying Charles VIII on his expedition to Naples the financier took a liking to Italian art. Behind the facade of the mansion with its delicate Gothic Renaissance sculptures, a large courtyard opens up with pure Renaissance Italianate galleries.

The building now houses the head office of a group of insurance companies, founded in 1820.

There are gravel pits nearby, which, since flooded, are the haunt of many fishermen

There is an ancient dolmen near the town.

 
 
 
 
 
 
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