Épineuil-le-Fleuriel

Épineuil-le-Fleuriel (Espinuelh de Flurièt) is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France.

Geography
An area of lakes, streams and farming consisting of the village and several hamlets situated by the banks of both the river Cher and the canal de Berry, some 37 mi south of Bourges at the junction of the D4, D64 and the D97 roads. The A71 autoroute runs through the western part of the territory of the commune and it shares a border with the department of Allier.

Sights

 * St Martin's church, dating from the twelfth century.
 * The eighteenth-century chateau of Cornançay.
 * The nineteenth-century school and museum of writer Alain-Fournier.
 * A feudal motte with a moat.
 * Traces of another medieval castle.
 * The chateau of Fougerolles.
 * Old tile works at la Bouchatte.
 * A washhouse at Cornançay.

Personalities

 * Alain-Fournier, writer, spent his childhood here, where his parents taught at the school. The setting of his novel, Le Grand Meaulnes, is based on the area around the village.