“Cardinal” circular walk in Giromagny

Start: Place Charles de Gaulle in Giromagny. Large car park.

Giromagny is served by Optymo bus routes 20 and 90.

(S/E) From the car park, head due south following the path that runs along the left bank of the Savoureuse. Cross the river via a lovely footbridge.

(1) Turn right onto the D12 Rue Schwabmunchen and then turn left onto the Sentier du Rioz. Cross the Faubourg de Belfort D465 with care (caution: busy road) and continue straight ahead onto Rue des Prés. At the bend, continue straight on along a straight path that runs alongside the forest.

(2) Turn right when you reach Rue Sous la Côte. Turn left twice and continue along a country lane that crosses the Prés Heyd. Turn right at the end where it joins a major marked trail, the GR®5. Follow it to the right, running alongside the cemetery.

(3) Cross the D12 with care and take the Allée des Moutons opposite. The path climbs steeply. Turn right onto Rue des Carrières, join the D12 and turn left onto Rue du Tilleul, then right onto Rue Traversière. (Pay attention to the signposting as the junction is confusing). Walk past Saint Jean-Baptiste Church and join Grande Rue, which you follow to the left for 100 m.

(4) Turn right onto Rue de la Savoureuse. After 100 m, follow the path on the right, Allée du Canal, which crosses the Savoureuse. Immediately afterwards, turn right onto Allée Sainte-Barbe. At the end of the path, continue along Rue Saint Pierre and arrive at Place Square des Casernes.

(5) Turn right onto Rue des Casernes. After 300 m, turn right onto the path running alongside the Savoureuse. Follow Rue du Paradis des Loups, cross the main road and arrive at the starting point (S/E)

Start: Place Charles de Gaulle in Giromagny. Large car park

Giromagny is served by the Optymo 20 and 90 bus routes.

Giromagny is situated at the foot of the Vosges mountains, 15 km north of Belfort.

This walk has been named "Cardinal" in honour of Mazarin, who was granted this seigneury in 1659 for his distinguished service to Louis XIV.

The mining industry
Giromagny experienced a boom from the 14th century onwards thanks to the mining industry. The exploitation of the region’s mineral resources (silver, copper) fuelled its development. With the former Rosemont mines, Giromagny became a major industrial centre in the region during the 16th century and had a population of 1,500, whilst Belfort had only a third of that number. This population was partly made up of Germanic miners, who were sometimes poorly received by the local inhabitants.

The Giromagny presbytery even nearly became the French School of Mines during the Revolution. Mining activity gradually and definitively came to an end in the 19th century. Traces of mining activity are still visible today: from miners’ houses to the Maison Mazarin (the former mining court building), and from mine galleries to the wash houses used by miners’ wives for domestic purposes.

The textile industry

The Boigeol family built the valley’s first mechanical spinning mill in 1813, supplemented as early as 1820 by a weaving mill that made it possible to move away from the work of home-based weavers: the Tissage du Brûlé site (opposite the town hall). Power was supplied by the waters of the Savoureuse and a huge water wheel, before the steam engine arrived in 1828. In 1878, the Giromagny factory was destroyed in a massive fire. The second half of the 20th century saw the definitive end of textile production in Giromagny.

Nearby attractions

The Mazarin House, Place des Mineurs in Giromagny (a stone’s throw from the car park).
To find out more about Giromagny’s heritage: http://patrimoine90.fr/Giromagny.html
Fort Dorsner: open to visitors in summer.