Saint-Laurent: Nature, Meuse and Church Architecture

Saint-Laurent brings together nature, routes along the Meuse and a distinctive architectural profile. When choosing where to stay, you can focus on different things: the Parc animalier de Charleville-Mézières on the edge of town, the Voie Verte Trans-Ardennes or the Église Saint-Laurent in the town centre. If you are looking for hotels in Saint-Laurent, this distinction can help you plan your trip around your interests.

Nature and routes along the Meuse

The 34-hectare Parc animalier de Charleville-Mézières extends along the edge of Saint-Laurent and Aiglemont. Its size and location give the area a strong connection to nature.

The Voie Verte Trans-Ardennes passes through Saint-Laurent and is 130.5 kilometres long in total. It is classified as easy and is accessible on foot and by bicycle. The 130.5 kilometres refer to the entire Voie Verte; they should not be taken as the length of a single section.

Along the Meuse, the route follows a former towpath. The overall landscape of the Voie Verte includes gentle countryside, picturesque scenery, deep valleys, forests and rocky landscapes.

The Église Saint-Laurent and its architectural features

The Église Saint-Laurent is in the town centre and dates from the 12th century. The choir and bell tower were built around 1200. This dating connects the building to a long history of construction, while its roofs and materials reveal specific architectural features.

The church is entirely roofed in slate. The nave and choir have roofs with long slopes; the apse has a polygonal hipped end, and the bell tower is topped by a square spire. The nave is the elongated main part of the church building, while the apse is its terminal section. The different roof forms divide the building’s mass and make its individual sections distinct.

The masonry is made of limestone rubble, with dressed stone quoins. The interior features exposed stonework. Both the stone construction and the visible treatment of the interior are therefore among the church’s defining features. Another historical detail is the cross known as a “croix de calvaire,” which dates from the 16th or 17th century. This period is considerably later than the church’s construction and adds a glimpse of a different historical era.

A delicious stopover

The Maison des Produits du Terroir in Saint-Laurent invites visitors to stop and discover and sample its products. This adds a specific culinary activity to your visit and offers a different focus from a route along the Meuse or the church’s architecture. Before travelling, check again whether a visit is possible and which products are available.

Discover more destinations: Canton of Signy-L'abbaye, Cornay, Belval, Les Hautes Rivières, Doumely-Bégny, Le Fréty, Balaives-Et-Butz, Juniville.

For the broader travel overview: Ardennes.