Saint William's Church is a gothic church is known for its sumptuous interior combining the Gothic and Baroque styles. Since the end of the 19th century, the excellent acoustics of the church has allowed it to serve as a venue for concerts of classical music, in particular for the Passions of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Returning unharmed from the Crusades, the knight Henri de Müllenheim undertook the construction of a monastery for the Hermits of Saint William, an order of mendicant monks, in this marshy neighbourhood situated extra muros, that is, beyond the city walls. The elongated building, consecrated in 1301 and realised in 1307, is the only remnant of this group. Entirely brick and unvaulted, the church corresponds well to the ideal of the order, namely by its single nave and the simplicity of its exterior form. Sheltered by a pitched roof, its nave is topped and prolonged by a deep polygonal choir illuminated by high windows, which betrays its original function as the monks' meeting room. In 1331, by reason of its proximity to the port and wharfs, the church was chosen as parish by the newly established corporation of shipbuilders.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.