Travel Guide Thizay

A small village of less than 300 inhabitants, at the end of the dry valley of Verrière, Thizay is nestled between a largely wooded plateau and the wet meadows of the Vienne where geese were once raised (mentioned in the writings of Rabelais). The village is reached by a picturesque road that winds through the forest from Lerné. The parish of Thizay was a fief under the feudal castle of Chinon. In 1620, it was the property of Henriette de Joyeuse, duchess of Guise. In the large valley of Verrière, the houses lean against the hillside dug out of the rock. At the entrance of the village, the church dedicated to Saint Maurice keeps a porch in frame, vestige of the building of the XIIth century. On the hillside above the church, you will discover a dolmen, "La Pierre couverte". Among the historical monuments (private) worthy of interest, let us quote the castle of Vaumenaise, originally a fief under the abbey of Seuilly, the manor of Frau, a gentleman's residence of the 16th century, or the fortified farm of La Grande Gaudrée, also of the 16th century. In the heart of the village, a square covered washhouse was built at the end of the 19th century, benefiting from the presence of a natural spring. Opposite the village, and on the other side of the road, lies the marshland planted with poplars where many plants of guinea fern, a plant species with a beautiful and early flowering, grow in spring. On the plateau, cultivated plots alternate with large areas of holm oak woodland.