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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Varize, located in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region, dates from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This rural monument, classified as historical monuments in 1952, is distinguished by the murals of its apse, rediscovered after having been covered with coatings. These frescoes, partially damaged, represent biblical scenes such as the Descent of the Cross, the Baptism of Christ, or the Feast of Herod, bearing witness to local medieval religious art.

The original paintings of the 13th century were covered in the 14th or 15th century by other decorations with glue, today fragmentary. The walls were staked to attach a later coating, probably after the 1870 fighting against the Prussians, when Varize was burned in retaliation for the resistance of its inhabitants. These events marked the local heritage for a long time, as evidenced by the commemorative stele of the bridge over the Conia.

Varize, a rural municipality with 184 inhabitants in 2023, is part of a territory marked by agriculture and plain landscapes crossed by the Conie River. The church, a communal property, remains a symbol of the village's historical resilience, linked to tragic episodes such as the 1870 fire or the resistance during the Second World War, commemorated by a stele honouring five resistance fighters massacred nearby.

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