Discover Bouzon-Gellenave

If you’re looking for a hotel in Bouzon-Gellenave, the local themes can help you plan your stay. The chapel, archaeological traces and hiking route offer different points of interest: religious tradition, historical ties to the area and landscape. You can tailor your stay to your own interest in cultural history or a hike through forests and vineyards.

Romanesque Chapel and Pilgrimage

The Chapelle Notre-Dame du Bouzonnet is a small Romanesque building with a semicircular apse and a rectangular nave. The apse forms the semicircular end, while the nave is the rectangular main space; these two forms define the architectural description. The chapel was built in the 12th century over an original sanctuary and was a pilgrimage site for the blessing of the seeds. The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, celebrated there on September 8, was especially important. Thus, an earlier religious history, the Romanesque building phase and specific pilgrimage occasions all come together here.

Churches, Archaeological Traces and Resistance History

The church of Saint Martin de Bouzon is mentioned as early as 1062. The archaeological site of the motte de Saint-Gô is located in Bouzon-Gellenave. The local motte-and-bailey site is associated with the Visigothic occupation in the 5th century. The dates refer to different things: 1062 to the mention of the church, and the 5th century to the Visigothic connection of the motte-and-bailey site.

Maurice Parisot is part of the history of the Resistance: from Bouzon-Gellenave, he spent three years underground building a well-armed and well-equipped infantry battalion of 500 men. The three years describe how long it took to build it; the figure of 500 men describes the size of the unit. This gives this part of local history a different scale from the religious and archaeological connections.

Ridges, Watercourses and Vineyards

Bouzon-Gellenave stretches between Aignan and Nogaro along a ridge that separates the Midour from the Riberette. The Riberette is also known as the Petit Midour. Bouzon-Gellenave also lies on a hill and is surrounded by the Saint-Mont vineyards. The ridge and watercourses provide the broader geographical setting, while the hill and vineyards describe the location of the village. This distinction helps set the local landscape apart from its connections to the named watercourses.

The Domaine de Saint-Gô is also part of the landscape. It covers 165 hectares around the Château d’Esparsac, also known as the Château de Saint-Gô. The Domaine and the Château refer to different things: the Domaine is the estate, while Château d’Esparsac and Château de Saint-Gô are two names for the same castle. The area figure applies to the estate around the castle, not to a single hiking route.

The “Discovering History” Route

The “Discovering History” route is a very easy 5.0-kilometre hike. It follows a path to the tumulus, passes through sections of woodland and vineyards, then returns to Bouzon-Gellenave. Its course combines a site connected to local history with stretches through woodland and vineyard landscapes. The distance describes the length of the route, while the “very easy” rating describes its difficulty; each answers a different question when planning a hike. If you’d like to discover the area through its history and landscape, this route brings these themes together along the way.

Discover more destinations: Duffort, Perchède, Mirepoix, Razengues, Courties, Lamazère, Mauvezin, Miradoux.

For the main travel overview: Gers.