The Triassic Loop - Saint Giron d'Aiguevives / Saint Vivien de Blaye

Depart from the town of Saint-Girons-d'Aiguevives, latitude 45.1403400 (N 45° 8’ 25”), longitude -0.5427500 (W 0° 32’ 34”)

• Starting point church

• Starting point from the church
• Rebuilt between 1853 and 1860 on the plans of the architect Jean-Edouard Bonnore, the church preserves the old sanctuary whose current location is the choir. The latter, decorated by Terral, is of Flamboyant Gothic style characterized by its vault of warheads. The bell tower is home to two bells, one of which dates from 1608. Part of the stained glass is made by Gustave-Pierre Dagrant between 1860 and 1900, painter glass whose factory was located in Bordeaux. To the left of the bell tower you will discover a cemetery cross placed on top of a stone barrel.
• Starting from the village you will notice the whole city-school with architecture very particular for the region. It recalls buildings that are found in northern France or Belgium.

• Along the way...

• In the distance is the silhouette of an old windmill. The mill tower is, in our region, always cylindrical. The thickness of the walls combined with a reduced height of construction provided the mill with its resistance especially against the wind blowing.
• The interior had an upper part reserved for machinery and millstones, and a habitable ground floor, used in particular as a storage place for grain.

• The Gabaye well

• You arrive at the hamlet of "Coudurat", which has kept its covered well that you will discover.
• Built in stone on a circular plan, it is covered with a dome that protects the precious water resource. Frequent in Haute-Gironde, this model is commonly called gabaye well.

• In Saint Christoly of Blaye

• Arriving in the town of Saint Christoly de Blaye you discover the church registered with the Historical Monuments of then 1926.
• Of the small church of the 12th century, there remains only the first west bay supporting the bell tower. Built on a Greek cross plan, after the destruction of the early church during the Hundred Years War, the church was completely transformed during the 15th and 18th centuries. Wall frescoes have recently been unearthed. To discover the interior, ask the keys to the town hall).
• Further out of the village you pass in front of the old shoe factory. Founded in the early twentieth century is from 1914 that the small factory includes a brick and stone building (overlooking the street), with the ground floor a business store. At the rear, the production workshop is deployed under a sheds roof, completed in 1930 by a large factory made partly of reinforced concrete. Since 1960, the manufacture of slipper charentaise is abandoned.

• The vineyard of Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux

• Take advantage of this view of the vineyards of Saint Vivien de Blaye. It is under the name Blaye-Côtes de Bordeaux that the wine produced on this territory is marketed. At the scale of the canton, the vineyard is exploited mainly on small farms of about 15 hectares located in plain or hillside.

• Castle Virou

• Its originality is to occupy the site of an old monastery of the Discalced Carmelites. It did not escape the turmoil caused by the revolution and on March 5, 1791, it was sold at public auction.
• The Virou will first be transformed into a pleasure estate by Jean Delbos and his wife, then into a wine estate by his grandson, heir to the estate in 1859. He remained in the same family until 1919.
• You can still see the old gate of the monastery.
• Visit-tasting. Info on +33 5 57 42 44 40. www.chateau-le-virou.com/