Saint-Martin-Du-Puy: Hiking, Landscape and Cultural Heritage

Saint-Martin-Du-Puy offers a range of highlights to help you plan your trip: the Boucle de Saint-Martin, historic buildings and a landscape that includes the Lac de retenue de Chaumeçon reservoir. If you are looking for a hotel, you can decide whether you would most like to go hiking, explore architectural history or focus on the scenery. The following topics offer different points of reference for your plans.

Hiking the Boucle de Saint-Martin

The Boucle de Saint-Martin is a moderately difficult PR circular trail covering 12.4 kilometres. The stated duration is three hours and 15 minutes. The starting and finishing point is Place de Saint-Martin du Puy. This gives you the distance, time frame and start and end point for planning your day. These key details answer different questions: the distance describes the scope of the route, the duration gives the stated time frame, and the rating indicates the level of difficulty.

The route alternates between woodland and bocage landscape. Bocage is a cultivated landscape divided by hedgerows; alongside the woodland sections, it is another type of landscape found along the circular trail. If you choose a hike based on more than just distance and duration, you can also take this change of scenery into account. Check local trail conditions before setting out.

Church and architectural history

The Église Saint-Martin puis Notre-Dame has retained its Romanesque appearance. It is thought to date from the 11th century and has been altered several times. Its preserved Romanesque appearance thus sits alongside its tentative dating and subsequent changes. For travellers interested in architectural history, these aspects offer different points of interest: its approximate date on the one hand, and the building’s development on the other.

The church can be visited with a key available from the Mairie. Check the key arrangements locally before your visit. The Mairie is the town hall.

Castle and landscape

The Château de Vésigneux is a feudal castle dating from the 14th century; it was altered in the 16th and 17th centuries. By contrast, the church’s date of origin is expressed tentatively, while the castle—with its construction date and later phases of alteration—offers a different historical point of reference. Saint-Martin-Du-Puy thus brings together two distinct building histories: a church with a presumed date of origin and several alterations, and a castle with specified periods of construction and alteration.

The landscape of Saint-Martin-Du-Puy also includes the Lac de retenue de Chaumeçon reservoir, situated on the Chalaux. The Boucle describes the transition between woodland and bocage along a circular route; the reservoir is another named feature of the landscape. When planning your trip, you can therefore choose between hiking, historic buildings and landscape as separate interests.

Discover more destinations: Isenay, Menou, Marzy, Teigny, Magny-Cours, Chiddes, Saint-Vérain, Decize

For the regional travel overview: Nièvre.