Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes: Manival and local history

If you are considering Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes as a destination for your hotel stay, its landscapes, trails and local history offer concrete points of interest. The focus is on the landscape around Manival and historical traces, from churches to agriculture.

Manival and the Chartreuse landscape

The Manival alluvial fan is one of the largest in Europe. The municipal forest of Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes, covering 99.16 ha, lies on it on the eastern slope of the Chartreuse massif. Another geological trace can be seen on the hill at the hamlet of Ratz: the Isère glacier left a moraine there around 15,000 years ago.

The Gorges du Manival extend across six municipalities. Their south-facing slopes combine wet and dry conditions, providing a habitat for orchids and Mediterranean plants. In Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes, the Gorges du Manival are designated as a ZNIEFF Type I. The Zone humide des Cloyères also extends partly into the municipality; it covers more than 600 ha in total and includes former gravel pits and remnants of alluvial forest. Another natural area is Le Moulin: this site is designated as a ZNIEFF Type I and includes marshy woodland and wet meadows.

Trails and getting around

Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes is part of the Parc naturel régional de la Chartreuse. Municipal trails are listed in the Plan Départemental d’Itinéraires de Promenades et de Randonnées (PDIPR). The Manival nature trail was created in 2010 along the banks of the mountain stream. Information panels explain its history and how it works, as well as the works that have shaped its course.

The Manival promenade runs from a car park at the end of the road towards ONF to a forest hut at an altitude of 870 m. A cycling loop to Col du Coq also starts in Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes. For road access, the RD30 départementale road is another landmark: from Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes, it crosses Col du Coq, providing an important access route to the Plateau des Petites-Roches and the municipality of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. The pass is therefore associated both with the start of a cycling loop and with this regional road connection.

Churches and architectural history

The church on Place de l’Église was rebuilt in its present form in 1835 and blessed in early 1836. In Clèmes, the documented history of the church goes back further: it is mentioned in the 12th-century cartularies of Saint-Hugues. After the French Revolution, it was converted into a private house.

The architectural heritage also includes the Château des Eymes, known as Château Villeroy. It stands on an estate enclosed by walls, with agricultural outbuildings, a formal French garden, an English garden and a small wood. The two names refer to the same estate; the different garden styles and outbuildings are part of its described layout.

Viticulture and regional agricultural geography

The soils and location of the Manival alluvial fan have favored viticulture there since the Middle Ages. Saint-Nazaire-Les-Eymes is also within the geographical area of the AOC and AOP Noix de Grenoble. These are distinct aspects of agricultural geography: the development of viticulture, favored on the alluvial fan since the Middle Ages, and the municipality’s inclusion in a geographical appellation area for walnuts.

Discover more destinations: Le Gua, Roybon, Seyssins, Saint-Baudille-De-La-Tour, Villemoirieu, Saint-Hilaire, Reventin-Vaugris, Chirens

For the main travel overview: Isere.