Lecaillon Paysage Dboukla
Ecaillon Circuit Menhirdboukla
Querenaing Randonneeotcvm 3765
Chevrerie De Lecaillon
Lecaillon Paysage Dboukla
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Img 5677 1The “Ballade du Menhir” takes you from the highest point at the foot of the “Grés de Monfort”, to the lowest point of the circuit, in the heart of the Ecaillon valley. Small chapels and calvaries also mark your route.
A walk to be enjoyed all year round!
Did you know?
Erected in the Neolithic period, this megalith is one of the few surviving examples of prehistory near Valenciennes. Once a dolmen, it was raised by German troops during the First World War, in 1917. Respected for thousands of years, it has been listed as a Monument Historique since March 18, 1980. Surrounded by legends, one of them tells us that it’s under this stone that mothers go to fetch their babies.
Ecaillon Circuit MenhirdbouklaYou can choose to start from the commune of Verchain-Maugrès or from Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon… You’re only ten kilometers from Valenciennes, to discover this very “big rock” as it’s called here.
The Montfort sandstone rises from the heights of Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon with a chequered history and an unusual belief system, to say the least… You gradually catch a glimpse of its stocky silhouette as you climb gently up the hillside. And here it stands alone at the summit, the last sentinel of a complex that, it is said, once numbered some fifty sandstone blocks. A prized raw material, cut into cobblestones and gravel for roads. It came within a hair’s breadth of becoming the base of a calvary. But it was impossible to move this Neolithic sandstone. During the First World War, however, German soldiers succeeded in straightening it, no doubt out of sheer defiance. So, true-false menhir? History has yet to decide.
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Img 5697This walk through the Ecaillon valley, just a stone’s throw from Valenciennes, will charm you with the typical architecture of the villages you pass through and the picturesque cobbled, steep-sided paths. Best from April to October. Follow the yellow signs 😉
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Img 5923Saint-Pierre church is located on a green square in the heart of the village of Verchain-Maugré. The building was constructed in the 17th century and remodeled in the 19th century. It has three naves and four bays. It ends in a flat chevet flanked by three chapels with flat chevet.
The main south-west facade features a four-storey bell tower-porch.
Opening the double-leaf door, visitors are greeted by a beautifully renovated edifice featuring a central nave separated from the two side aisles by six imposing square-based pillars. The walls are of sandstone and white stone. The hull-shaped ceiling is made of wood.
At the far end of the central nave, the choir is flanked on the right by the chapel of Notre-Dame de Lourdes and on the left by the chapel of the Lord, which are extensions of the side aisles, each with four large bays whose stained-glass windows let the daylight into the sanctuary. Each chapel is itself illuminated by two fine stained-glass windows. The fourteen paintings of the Stations of the Cross adorn the side walls, each discreetly bearing the name of the donor family.
The eight pillars separating the central nave from the side aisles each bear a statue facing each other. In addition to those already mentioned, there are those of Saint-Eloi, Saint-Roch, Sainte-Véronique, Saint-Michel, Saint-Antoine de Padoue, Saint-Christophe, Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc, Sainte Thérèse de l’Enfant-Jésus and Saint-Hubert.
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