Castle and Saint-Jean Chapel in Soussey-sur-Brionne

Circular route starting from Martrois that will take you to the Saint-Jean Chapel, passing close to a bison farm and then Soussey-sur-Brionne Castle.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 12.89 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 237 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 240 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 518 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 375 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Martrois (21320)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 47.311186° / E 4.535949°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2922SB, 2923SB
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the small car park at the entrance to the street opposite Martrois Town Hall.

(S/E) From the town hall, go up the main street, then keep right towards the church and take Rue de l'Église.

(1) At the church, take Rue de Civry, then at the end, go up the small road on the right. Pass in front of the farm building, then turn left onto the path just next to the farm entrance.

(2) At the three-way junction, turn left onto the path that runs alongside the field where agricultural equipment is stored. Continue along this stony path, which soon reaches the ridge with a beautiful view. The path continues through a wood.

(3) At the entrance to the bison park, turn right onto the small path that runs alongside it. Follow this path until you see a small stone building on your right: this is the Saint-Jean Chapel.

(4) After seeing the chapel, return to the path and continue along it until you reach the carriage road, where you should turn left. Continue along this path towards the village until you reach the small road.

(5) Turn right three times, then take Rue du Château until you reach the castle.

(6) At the castle, retrace your steps and take Rue de l'Église on the right.

(7) At the church, follow Rue du Presbytère, then continue to the right and continue until you reach a three-way junction with a path on the left. Take this path.

(8) At the end, turn left and continue uphill, then turn right where there is a small wall with a collapsed section at the beginning. Continue, keeping to the left twice.

(9) At the crossroads, follow the path that curves gently to the right. At the end, continue to the right on the wider path. At the end, turn right, then right again at the crossroads.

(10) At the hiking signpost, turn right towards "Martrois". Continue along this path, keeping to the right in the bend, until you reach the spring with three cascading drinking troughs.

(11) About 70 metres after this spring, take the small path on the left, then continue in a north-westerly direction.

(12) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead until you reach the small road.

(13) Turn right towards the stone bench. After the bench and just after the low wall, turn left onto a steep path, then right towards the church. After going around the church, follow Rue Sainte-Marie, which continues onto Grande Rue, leading to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 429 m - Small car park in the street opposite the town hall.
  2. 1 : km 0.25 - alt. 456 m - Martrois Church
  3. 2 : km 0.79 - alt. 496 m - Turn left at the three-way junction.
  4. 3 : km 1.46 - alt. 504 m - Bison breeding area.
  5. 4 : km 2 - alt. 470 m - Saint-Jean Chapel
  6. 5 : km 2.58 - alt. 376 m - Junction with small road
  7. 6 : km 2.93 - alt. 379 m - Castle
  8. 7 : km 3.3 - alt. 384 m - Church of Soussey-sur-Brionne
  9. 8 : km 4.75 - alt. 471 m - Fork to the left
  10. 9 : km 5.9 - alt. 509 m - Crossroads.
  11. 10 : km 8.68 - alt. 516 m - Hiking signpost.
  12. 11 : km 9 - alt. 498 m - Small spring with three cascading drinking troughs.
  13. 12 : km 11.22 - alt. 515 m - Crossroads
  14. 13 : km 12.29 - alt. 498 m - Road junction
  15. S/E : km 12.89 - alt. 428 m - Car park.

Worth a visit

12th-century Saint-Jean Chapel.
Soussey-sur-Brionne Castle with its 13th-century keep.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 9 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.6 / 5
NanaDidi
NanaDidi

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 09, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Let’s do this lovely walk again.
Two years later, we didn’t do any of the surrounding trails: the paths are dry (too dry?) and clear BUT, 70 metres from the spring, a danger sign for pedestrians indicates that the path is impassable due to fallen trees. We hesitated a lot, went back and forth, and finally took an alternative route across the meadows before coming back onto the right path (phew!).
The castle gate was open: it’s magnificent (we were able to visit it during Heritage Days); we came across all sorts of animals and even spotted some bison.
The walk seems a bit too exposed to me for the summer; a shame, as I would have loved to take my granddaughter there.

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BROCKMANN
BROCKMANN

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
A lovely walk through woods and country lanes.

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PATAOUMEGNOL
PATAOUMEGNOL

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 05, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The description is very reliable and useful in places where you might hesitate, such as after the source of the Brionne, where you take the path on the left 70 metres further on, or when you arrive at the bison park. This means there is no room for error. We turned this hike into a round trip starting and ending in Civry en Montagne, covering 21 kilometres with an elevation gain of 300 metres. There are several possibilities for extending the route. We avoided the extremely muddy edge of Lake Grosbois when we scouted the route, but walking along all the other forest paths still required a lot of concentration because of the mud. The climb up the very quiet little road along the Brionne and then the path provided more stability.
It should be noted that in the forest above the Brionne (La Bouchere), where the route passes, there are signs indicating "Silent hunting in June".

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NanaDidi
NanaDidi

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and exciting walk at the beginning.
Farmed bison: glimpsed!
St Jean Chapel: superb but in urgent need of restoration
Castle: hidden behind its fence, to be revisited in summer.
We walked through a scent of violets that would make a Toulouse native green with envy! But we had been warned: mud and numerous trees blocking the path. From point 11 onwards, our walk turned into an obstacle course: in addition to the fallen trees, the path had become a stream!
We made it to our destination safely, and it made for a funny memory!
Thanks to the author.

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Eric 52
Eric 52

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello, thank you to the author of this beautiful hike. There were no major difficulties in following this trail, with lovely views right from the start. We spotted a few farmed bison, and the climbs were very gentle. However, there were a lot of fallen trees on the trail over a 3/400m stretch from point 11. And at this time of year, there was a lot of mud on the paths. The pretty 12th-century St Jean chapel is in its original state, but Soussey Castle is closed to visitors at this time of year. We'll do it again in the spring to enjoy the forest.

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saint-apollinaire
saint-apollinaire

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello,
A beautiful hike, alternating between forest, pastures and fields.
Beautiful slopes without any difficulties.
The St Jean chapel is in need of restoration, a typical Burgundian building with a lava roof.
The view of Soussey-sur-Brionne is magnificent.
Martrois has retained its rustic appearance, while Soussey-sur-Brionne has been more extensively restored, perhaps because of its château.
The old bench at point 7 has disappeared.

Thank you for this hike.

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Daniel VAILLE
Daniel VAILLE

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 23, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Route taken on 22 May 2020. At point 11, we took the small path on the left as indicated and marked. After 1 km, this path was completely blocked by tree trunks and branches, impossible to cross given the height and impossible to go around given the density of the forest! We retraced our steps to find the gravel path that seemed to run parallel. After a while, we realised that it was leading us to SOUSSEY S/BRIONNE and not to MARTROIS (our starting point). We turned back again, thinking that perhaps the solution would be to take the departmental road leading to MARTROIS (quite a long way away). We scanned the path to find a gap to cross the field that ran alongside the woods. But there was a barbed wire fence all along the edge of the woods! Further on, at the end of the field, we tried again to cross through the tall grass and nettles... No more fence! Two large tree trunks to climb over and we see the path! The smartphone shows the arrow on the right path... Phew! Thank you, VISORANDO app! It took us half an hour... Apart from that, we saw some beautiful villages in bloom, including the castle of SOUSSEY (gate open), which is very beautiful (worth a visit), the chapel of St JEAN, bison, and the spring with three cascading drinking troughs... A beautiful route. The path will need to be cleared to avoid disappointment for other hikers.

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paspatrand
paspatrand

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 27, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very pleasant walk to do in autumn to fully appreciate the colour of the foliage. The paths through the woods are wide and perfectly passable but can sometimes be slippery in wet weather.

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flavignot
flavignot

Overall rating : 3.5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 10, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Beautiful villages, but the rest of the hike on the plateau is rather monotonous...
The passage to Martois from La Chapelle leaves something to be desired: we continued straight ahead through the forest and then struggled to reach the plateau amid the sheep.
We did the walk during a severe drought, so we could cross fields and meadows at will.

I didn't see any bison.

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