Discover Cussy-Les-Forges

Several travel interests come together in Cussy-Les-Forges: architecture and history, nature, and a pilgrimage stage of the Via Ligéria. To plan your stay, you can first decide which focus you would like to spend time on. The Église Saint-Martin and the Stèle des aviateurs alliés de Presles offer different historical perspectives; the nature inventory area and the route add landscapes and a specific hiking stage, respectively.

Gothic architecture at the Église Saint-Martin

The Église Saint-Martin in Cussy-Les-Forges is a Gothic church dating from the 15th century. These two details place the building in different ways: “Gothic” describes its architectural classification, while the century sets its historical timeframe. For anyone including historic architecture in their travel plans, it offers a specific point of interest. The church provides a different focus from the memorial in Presles: here, the building history of a place of worship takes centre stage, while there, the focus is on commemorating an event from the Second World War.

The Presles memorial and the remembrance of 1944

The Stèle des aviateurs alliés de Presles commemorates seven Allied airmen who lost their lives in the area around Cussy-Les-Forges on 6 February 1944, while on a mission to drop weapons for the Resistance. The clearly dated event connects the memorial site with a specific Second World War mission. The site of the event and the location of the memorial should be distinguished: the airmen lost their lives in the area around Cussy-Les-Forges, while the stèle is in Presles. It was created by local artist François Rouillot. The memorial’s artistic design thus adds another dimension to the historical remembrance. Unlike the Église Saint-Martin, the focus here is on a commemoration of a dated event and its artistic form.

Nature inventory area with varied habitats

The INPN edition of 11 June 2024 lists Cussy-Les-Forges within the ZNIEFF nature inventory area 260008510, “Forêts riveraines et de ravin, prairies humides de la vallée du Cousin.” The area description mentions forests, hedgerows with meadows, rivers, rocks, fallow land and dry grasslands. The range therefore extends from wet meadows and rivers to dry grasslands, with forests and hedgerows adding further varied habitats. The area is regionally significant for its forests, rivers and dry habitats. For nature enthusiasts, the variety of recorded landscape types is a clear focus: the description covers not just a single natural environment, but several different habitats.

The Via Ligéria as a pilgrimage stage

The Via Ligéria runs from Vézelay to Cussy-Les-Forges via a 30-kilometre pilgrimage stage. In Cussy-Les-Forges, the route guide directs you to turn onto the Grand’rue. The 30 kilometres refer to the stage between the two named places; Grand’rue is a specific street name on the section of the route through the village. This allows you to plan the length of the pilgrimage stage and its route through Cussy-Les-Forges separately. Before setting out, check trail conditions and signage, as both may change.

Discover more destinations: Vaumort, Cheny, Sainte-Vertu, Villeneuve-la-Guyard, Turny, Lézinnes, Monéteau, Quenne

For the main travel overview: Yonne.