Saint-Hilaire-sur-Benaize: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Culture and History

The Château de Céré was a former fortified feudal manor that served to monitor the valley. Its medieval building has a rectangular residential structure with four cylindrical corner towers. The Château de Céré preserves 16th-century wall paintings in the oratory.

The parish church of Saint-Hilaire was one of the gifts from Pierre II, Bishop of Poitiers, to the Benedictines of Saint-Savin. Its oldest part is the apse; it dates from the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century.

Hiking and Landscape

The “De la Benaize à l'Anglin n°59” hiking route is 12 km long, marked in yellow, and listed as taking three hours. It begins at the church square in Saint-Hilaire-sur-Benaize, leaves the Benaize, and leads to the Anglin. There, the path runs between the river and limestone cliffs with rock shelters. The route also passes castles that recall the Hundred Years' War and the strategic location of the municipality.

Nature

The “Entre Benaize et Anglin” day route can be travelled by horse-drawn carriage via variants. Along the route, the Benaize flows below Céré amid dense vegetation; the path climbs to the hamlet of Fontigon, and later the Benaize appears again in the centre of Saint-Hilaire.

Cycle Routes

The greenway leads from Saint-Hilaire-sur-Benaize towards Le Blanc; a return via Concremiers is possible. From Saint-Hilaire-sur-Benaize, the D53 leads towards Bélâbre. Cycle route No. 16 between Bélâbre and Concremiers is 30 km long, runs exclusively on roads, and is not signposted.

Other places: La Vernelle, Levroux, Villedieu-sur-Indre, Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, Luçay-Le-Mâle, Saint-Gaultier, Concremiers, Bazaiges.

To the higher-level travel overview: Indre.