Gizia: Reculée, hiking and heritage

Gizia combines a distinctive valley landscape with hiking and heritage. If you are looking for a hotel in Gizia, you can plan your trip around whether you are more interested in scenery and outdoor activities or in historic buildings and their connections. The circular hike leads to Belvédère du Chanelet; the two churches have different building histories.

Reculée, views and nature

The Reculée de Gizia is a three-kilometre-long valley that ends in a reculée with 150-metre-high cliffs. From Belvédère du Chanelet, the view extends across the entire reculée, the village of Gizia and, in the distance, the Bresse Bourguignonne plain. The panorama therefore takes in the immediate valley, the village and the more distant plain.

Belvédère du Chanelet is located in a ZNIEFF and is protected by a biotope protection order. The reculée is home to chamois, peregrine falcons and eagle owls. Gizia is also home to Saxifraga de Gizia, a plant unique in the world.

Hiking and route information

The PR® Reculée de Gizia circular hike starts in the Châtel district of Gizia. It is 6.1 kilometres long, takes about two hours and is considered easy. The route leads from Châtel to Belvédère du Chanelet. Its themes include geology, history and heritage, as well as nature. The distance and approximate duration give you a concrete basis for planning; check local trail conditions before setting out.

Along the route, you pass the church and the town hall. It then runs for 250 metres alongside the river on the D 134. This means you can also understand the hike through its stops in the village and the riverside stretch, not just by its destination at the viewpoint.

Churches and traces of history

The Église Saint-Etienne de Châtel was under the authority of the Priory of Châtel, founded by monks from Gigny. The church appears to have been built in the late 15th or early 16th century. In 1780, a bell-gable porch was added in place of the former wall bell tower. Since 23 August 2013, the entire building has been listed as a Monument historique by decree. A park and gardens surround the monastery and the Église Saint-Etienne de Châtel.

The village church of Gizia is a separate building: it dates from 1808 and has a bell gable that is atypical for the region. The building history of the Église Saint-Etienne de Châtel reaches further back and includes several clearly dated phases; the village church of Gizia provides a separate point of reference with its construction date.

The history of the mills is also connected to the landscape. Canals run alongside the river along its entire length and supplied water to seven mills as far as Cousance. This historical relationship between the river, canals and mills adds another perspective on the use of the landscape to the themes of hiking and churches.

Discover more destinations: Lac Des Rouges Truites, Chevigny, Saint-Julien, Saint-Germain-Lès-Arlay, Villard-Saint-Sauveur, Saint-Laurent-En-Grandvaux, Arsure-Arsurette, Hautecour.

For the regional travel overview: Jura.