Guided tour of the future Bassée-Montois Cultural Centre
The Butte St Pierre was the heart of Dontilly for more than twenty centuries. It seems that even during prehistory, the site was already frequented. A cut flint from the Neolithic or the Palaeolithic period can be found in the hollow of a furrow around it, with a little patience and attention, but no evidence of permanent or temporary occupation of places such as hut bottoms has yet been found, homes or burials. On the other hand the existence of an important Gallo-Roman villa, considered for a long time as a mere view of the mind is increasingly confirmed by the facts.
The very first invasions made the villa disappear. On its site the descendants of the leudes of Clovis build a castle protected as it should by slopes and ditches. A small Benedictine monastery settles in the enclosure. In 1230 a church was built there to welcome the faithful of the village which gradually formed around. In 1450 the monastery disappeared. The feudal castle, little if any abandoned during the hundred-year war, was replaced by agricultural facilities. The current Pavilion Farm is part of it. On June 14, 1489, the church, seriously restored is dedicated with great pomp, it receives the name of St Peter St Paul. But it was not until 1596 that the bell tower was completed, for it was only on this date that the seigneurs of Dontilly, Bescherelles, and other small fiefs agreed to allow their estates to be reunited in the parish.
The only bell that survived the French Revolution of 1789 soon deserved to be listed. It is in perfect condition of conservation it was realized in 1700 by Florentin Le Guay Master founder of the bourdon Emmanuel of the cathedral of Paris.