Arleux is a town north region Hauts-de-France, 10 km south of Douai, bordering the Pas-de-Calais.
Its territory of 11 square kilometers is located in the heart of the Sensible Valley, a tributary of the Scheldt, and is crossed by the Canal du Nord that joined in the resort on the Sensible channel. A river port was implanted upstream of the confluence.
Lordship with a castle from the twelfth and erected in viscounty under the Bishop of Cambrai and the Duchy of Burgundy, is Arleux the Middle Ages and under the old regime a strategic city because of its location.
It loses its fortifications in the seventeenth century and during the First War, the city was the center of terrible battles. At the end of the conflict, the town is destroyed and Arleux is decorated with the Military Cross.
Economically, though his lands remain humid south (marshes), the place where the glassworks were deemed the nineteenth century specialized in the cultivation and production of smoked garlic (protected designation).
With approximately 3000 inhabitants, Arleux rebuilt or repaired its heritage. His moorland to the unique biodiversity are also the joy of hikers.
The heritage of the town consists of several attractions. A discovery tour can begin with the Saint Nicolas church. Built in the Romanesque style in the twelfth century, where it is then the chapel of the castle, it was remodeled in the fifteenth and unfortunately very damaged in 1917. Rebuilt, it has preserved a case dating from 1753, a carved pulpit of the eighteenth and woodwork XIX.
Besides the memorial representing a Hairy Great War and mentions the Military Cross awarded to the town, to see then, the mill of Roy up several levels, built of brick.
A first mention refers to the presence of a mill dedicated to the production of flour on this site from the tenth century. The current mill was rebuilt in the 1920s while working with the energy of the river. Later, its machinery is powered by a gas engine. The milling activity ceasing in 1960, the mill is then used as a warehouse. Bought by the city after 2000, the building was renovated and transformed into a cultural center that now houses the tourist office, an exhibition hall and library. It offers regular events, meetings, workshops and exhibitions. Information +33 3 27 94 07 10 and +33 3 27 94 37 37.
Place then the "natural" leisure that take advantage of lush landscaping with large ponds, marsh areas, the edges of banks or channels whose fauna and flora are very rich.
Note also that it is not urbanized area that can be observed both the oldest heritage sites in the town (proving human presence some 100 000 years ago): the dolmen Hamel, in a small woods, above the marsh (on the steering-Tortequesne Lécluse) and menhir Lécluse.
No less than eight marked trails for fans of hiking and mountain biking have been drawn about the town with raids on neighboring communities. They allow to understand the unique environment of marshes and also include the wooded or cultivated areas and edges of rivers and towpaths along the canals. Maps and information +33 3 27 93 10 00 or +33 3 20 57 59 59.
Logically, these landscapes rich in ponds and streams also will delight anglers. Contact +33 3 27 89 38 61 to find out the developed sites and regulations to comply with.
The first weekend in September, the largest fair with smoked garlic rummage sale, flea market, tasting garlic soup, garlic braiding competition, wandering giants of the city, inductions by the brotherhood of garlic smoked and musical entertainment.