Travel Guide Saint-Doulchard

Fourth city of the Department of Cher by its population, the municipality of Saint-Doulchard is located in Bourges in the north. It is located at the edge of the Sologne, at the crossroads of roads leading towards Tours and Orléans and beyond towards Chartres and Paris, and traversed from the northwest to the south by the national highway 76 and the SNCF lines.In Antiquity named Ampeliacum, which literally means «vines to vineyards», Saint-Doulchard is a rich agricultural land, endowed with a Roman villa. In the Middle Ages, she welcomes the ducmite monk Dulcardus who will give her his name: I'm Saint Doulchard. Thus, surrounds the relics of the saint an ecclesiastical community inspired by Saint Ursin, the evangelist of the region, with the convent of the Ursulines. A village then stands around its bell tower (the parish Sanctus Dulcardus is mentioned in 1065). The church of Saint-Doulchard, Romanesque style, dates from the eleventh century. Restored in the twentieth century, it has a reliquary of elegant Louis XV style, where the relics of the blessed Saints, Reparat and Illuminat are found. It is assumed that it also contains relics of Saint Doulchard. A painting of the eighteenth century can also be admired in the church. The municipality also houses the castle of Varye, built in 1870, with a park of approximately four hectares, open to the public, and Vouzay Castle, known for being the retreat of the Abbot of Choisy, and one of the city's attractions; and the convent of the Annonciades, a spiritual place. For history lovers, Alfred Stanke, "the Franciscan of Bourges", German monk-soldier made famous by the novel (of Marc Toledano) and the film (Claude Tel-Lara) of the same name, is buried in the cemetery of the city.