Baulay: Heritage and Trails in the Saône Valley

The landscape of Baulay in the Saône Valley brings together water, meadows, woodland, and gentle terrain. It also features historic buildings, as well as a hiking trail and a cycling route with distinct thematic connections. When planning your stay, you can therefore choose between two different focuses: architecture and religious art on the one hand, and trails and local history on the other.

Church and Historic Art

Today’s Eglise de Baulay was rebuilt between about 1833 and 1840 and consecrated on May 18, 1851. Its ground plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, and the church stands on a terrace. The main entrance is in the bell tower’s entrance porch, which is reached by an outside staircase. The ground plan describes the cross-shaped layout, while the terrace and staircase shape the building’s exterior setting. The church also houses a silver reliquary statuette of Saint Bartholomew from the 17th century. It has been protected as a historic monument since September 29, 1966. The church thus brings together 19th-century architecture and an older religious work of art.

The fountain column on Place de la Résistance was built between 1848 and 1850. Its construction took place between the rebuilding of the present-day church and its consecration in 1851, making it easy to place these dates side by side chronologically. A chapel in the Baulay cemetery is dedicated to Notre-Dame de Pitié, Saint Thiébaut, and Sainte Jeanne. Its foundation dates to 1677, when the first stone was laid. The Chapelle Saint-Thiébaut also contains protected furnishings: its altar, altarpiece, and statue of Notre-Dame-de-Pitié have been protected as historic monuments since March 7, 1977.

Hiking, Cycling Route, and Remembrance

The municipal hiking trail “Sur les traces du loup” (In the Wolf’s Footsteps) starts in Baulay. It explores past wolf activity and the actions of the local Resistance during the Second World War, passing the Chapelle Saint-Thiébaut and going through the Tranchée de Baulay. The latter is associated with train derailments carried out by the local Resistance in August 1944. The trail thus connects an earlier link with nature to a specific episode in the history of the Resistance. Check the latest route information before setting out.

The Voie Bleue runs through the commune of Baulay from Port d’Atelier toward Montureux-lès-Baulay. This gives it a different spatial emphasis from the hike that starts in Baulay: the Voie Bleue is described in terms of its route and direction, while “Sur les traces du loup” focuses on historical themes. For your trip planning, this clearly distinguishes the cycling route from a hike with themed stops.

Discover more destinations: Hugier, Champagney, Esprels, Magny-Jobert, Moffans-et-Vacheresse, Faucogney-Et-La-Mer, Volon, Servance

For the regional travel overview: Haute-Saône.