Pacy-sur-Eure`s Town Centre Circuit
Transcription
Pacy-sur-Eure`s Town Centre Circuit
10 R ue des Crieurs This street that used to be called Ruelle Renoult (Renoult Lane) became Massacre Street after the Hundred Years War because this is where, in 1420, the English, who were besieging the town, climbed over the walls with rope ladders and began slaughtering the inhabitants that had not already fled into the countryside. Later the street was named Shouters Street because street-merchants were numerous there on market day and they would shout to attract customers. This street is still one of the most typical ones in Pacy-sur-Eure. is a stout eight-sided construction with a short spire. Most of the early windows were lancet-shaped but they were altered at the end of the 14th century. The walls are strengthened with abutments dating from the 13th century. Inside, visitors can see a 16th c. statue of the Virgin with Child, from the château of Anet, and 16th c. glass showing St Nicolas. The modern windows are a creation of Decorchemont, a regional artist. Guided Tour Town center Pacy-Sur-Eure L e s 11 S aint Aubin church Robert II, Lord of Pacy decided to have a church built in his territory. It is dedicated to Saint Aubin and was built in two periods : the nave in the first half of the 13th c. and, as for the choir and the transept, they were completed in the second half of the same century. The tower, erected above transept crossing, www.cape-tourisme.fr Office de Tourisme des Portes de l’Eure *** Place Dufay - 27120 Pacy-sur-Eure 02 32 26 18 21 www.cape-tourisme.fr [email protected] P o r t e s d e l ’ E u r e e r u E Guided Tour Town center nd erra ontf M Rue én uG y ue d ufa Av en eD Courto is Rue du Ru y c a P e t r spin s 2 Gue Parc du Champ de Foire 4 L ouis-Edouard Isambard At N°37 Rue de Pacel, stands Edouard Isambard’s house, a doctor born in Pacy, one of the founders of the local Republican Committee. He was a mayor and was also elected to the French Parliament in 1890. He is the one who greatly contributed to the “Loi de 1901” (Law of 1901) being passed – a very important French law organizing Associations and Trusts, (and which still stands). He had simple tastes and was so generous with destitute people that he was called “the doctor of the poor”. At the beginning of the 20th century, in order to preserve the memory of this great man, Regional authorities decided to name the main shopping street of Pacy after him. C i r c u i t d é c o u Rue 3 de Rue oli Tiv u Poil e Gare Touristique Avenu e 1 des l ace eP d Rue 4 au v is uo âte Ch 6 nce eFra Square des Moulins d Rue d Rue 7 bard sam ard I Edou Ru Rue ed u Poste s Hôtel oulin de Ville Office de tourisme 5 es M 8 arq iand e Br e Lyr e de Ru 10 es s 11 d Église e ur St-Aubin Ru rie C 9 uC Rue e ed Ru onde la B ed Ru tid Aris Rue ont uerm eG Serg éra ld S eG au lle u r - Pacy-Sur-Eure 1 T he Eure Valley Railway In 1864, local and regional authorities granted a concession to Mr Girard and Desroches to build the Dreux-Louviers and Pacy-Gisors railway lines. In 1873, Pacy station where the two lines branch was inaugurated, but over a century later the Dreux-Louviers line definitively closed in 1989. The Eure Valley Railway was founded in 1993 and since 1996 it has enabled railway fans and tourists to discover the Eure valley aboard carefully restored vintage trains. 2 A ristide Briand statue The statue was erected in 1933 by public subscription. At the back of the monument a bronze plaque shows the Prime Minister’s profile in a medallion. His death mask has been placed in a case inside the statue. Aristide Briand was called “the Apostle of Peace” as homage paid to his exceptional political career. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926 and, thanks to this money, bought a country house at Cocherel, a near-by village. 3 R ue de Pacel Until the end of the 18th century, Pacy was governed provincially in Rouen, whereas Pacel came under Parisian administration. This frontier between these two provinces (Normandy and Ile de France) is shown by the bridge over Moraine brook. Pacel was then a village composed of small hamlets: Pacel, Guespin and les Ajoux. Saint Martin church and Saint Sulpice priory were then situated at number 38 and 40 in Rue de Pacel but they no longer exist. In 1726 there were 199 inhabitants at Pacel and on June 29th, Pacel merged with Pacy-sur-Eure. 5 T he City hall This public building was successively called Chambre de ville (City chamber), Maison de ville (House of the town) and finally Hotel de ville (City hall). At the beginning of the 20th century the statue of Edouard Isambard was erected in front of it, but during World War II non-ferrous metals were salvaged; consequently, the statue was removed and re-cast to make new weapons. 6 R ue de France One evening, in the year 1731, l’Abbé Prévost (Reverend Prévost) together with his friend the Duke de la Force stopped for supper at an inn in rue de France. A group of young women-prisoners in chains arrived at the inn and a man of the gentry named Chevalier Des Grieux, asked l’Abbé Prévost and the Duke to intercede with the guards so as to allow Manon, one of the girls whom he was in love with, to spend a last night with him. L’Abbé Prévost drew his inspiration from this striking event when he later wrote one of the masterpieces of French literature, Manon Lescaut. 7 M ill Island Abbey Street was renamed Rue des Moulins (Mill street) during the Revolution because it leads to former mills built on the Eure river. Among others, there were especially two mills called “twin mills”. One of them, belonged to the Hoteterre family (famous musicians from La Couture Boussey) and the other, to Mr Lavril who owned the Royal Chocolate factory. 8 H ospital At the beginning of the 13th century, King Louis IX (Saint Louis) founded an almshouse for poor people from Pacy and the neighbourhood. At the end of the 17th c., the leper and lazar hospitals merged with it. Finally, as the buildings had fallen too much into decay, the hospital closed down in the mid 19th c. and moved to Rue du Faubourg. Today the last remains can be seen in front of Ile des Moulins (Mill Island) 9 H ôtel - Restaurant « l’Etape de la Vallée » At the beginning of the 20th century, the mill that existed there was turned into a tilery and later into a private hospital. This is where Henri Gault was born in 1920, one of the founders of the famous Gault & Millaud restaurant guidebook. Today’s hotel and restaurant opened there after World War II.