Entrains - Ouanne via the Roman road

The starting point is the car park on Place du Marché in Entrains-sur-Nohain.

(S) Take Rue Saint-Michel until you reach the first road on the right leading towards the church (30 m). Go around this monument on the left, then turn left onto Rue Saint-Sulpice. Go down Rue du Dauphin to the main intersection. At this point, turn left towards Étais-la-Sauvin (Rue des Joncs).

(1) Pass the museum on your left, continue straight ahead, ignoring the streets on your right and left, and turn left onto Rue de la Voie Romaine. This road is paved for access to the houses and then becomes a dirt track.

(2) Continue straight ahead, and the road becomes paved again for about 250 metres. On this section, pass a workshop on your right, then the Bisseterie farm. Continue along the path until you see a farm on your right (La Cour Renfermée) and follow the service road for 200 metres.

(3) Take the path opposite. From this point, you will enter a section marked by wooden posts with "Circuit n° 5" indicated. You can follow these signs, which correspond to a well-defined route from Sainpuits via the Montagne des Alouettes. You will come out onto a road (D66).

(4) Continue straight ahead, paying close attention. The Roman road, which is almost straight, is sometimes stony, grassy and very often shaded. You will reach the D6 road.

(5) Cross with caution. The Roman road here is paved, but it remains a beautiful little road passing through a wood. Reach the highest point where you will see a large stone on the left serving as a marker in the field and a new sign on the right indicating "Montagne des Alouettes".

(6) A few metres before this point, you will reach the end of the signposted section of "Circuit n°5" (this route continues to the left and will take you on other adventures next time). Continue along this gently sloping road for 200 metres.

(7) The road becomes a stony track with beautiful views.

(8) At the viewpoint, continue straight ahead. The Roman road continues with some steep descents until it comes out onto a road.

(9) Go straight ahead, leaving the village of Sougères-en-Puisaye on your right.

(10) Cross the first road junction with caution and, at the second junction, turn right and then immediately left up the street until you reach the next junction.

(11) Continue straight ahead on the road, which is paved in places, until you reach a crossroad.

(12) Head straight ahead; the road climbs uphill and leads to another crossroad.

(13) Continue straight ahead. At the shooting range, take the asphalted section for about 100 metres. Continue on the stony section and you will reach a crossroads with four paths (the crossroad is an old railway line).

(14) Keep going straight ahead, crossing a small road open to traffic.

(15) At this point, the Roman road has been rebuilt. Follow it to the left for 300 m, then turn right onto the road and follow it to the left for 150 m.

(16) Turn right back onto the Roman road.

(17) Continue straight ahead.

(18) Continue straight ahead, ignoring the paths on the left.

(19) Negotiate a right/left turn to stay on the dirt road. At the junction with the D85, the old Roman road ends here. You can descend to the village of Ouanne (Odoana).

You can hike or mountain bike along this route. Please be careful when crossing secondary roads.

Overall, the route runs north-east.

(10) At this point, the Roman road crossed a secondary Roman road (similar to a departmental road) that probably ran from Briare to Avallon and is very well recognised between Sougères-en-Puisaye and Druyes-les-Belles-Fontaines. It crosses Sougères in a straight line from west to east, and the layout of the houses shows that the village was built along this axis.

This road is unusual:

• the first part is called "ancienne voie romaine" (from (1) to (14)), and the other part is called "Chemin des Romains".
• it zigzags at one point (15), due to land consolidation in the 20th century.

Places to visit:
(S) Entrains and the museum

History of the Roman road:
The proposed route is a section of the Roman road from Auxerre to Bourges, which crossed the Loire at Mesves via a bridge.
This road was built after the Via Agrippa (Lyon–Boulogne), the first major road constructed during the reign of Augustus (1st century AD), which it joined at Auxerre.
The importance of this road is highlighted by a milestone found at Autun, indicating the direction of the road and mentioning the names of Entrains (Interanum) and Ouanne (Odoana) along with the distances.

Throughout the Middle Ages, it was the only route linking the Loire basin with Auxerre.

In 841, during the War of Succession between Charlemagne’s grandsons, the armies of Charles the Bald and Louis the German, coming from Auxerre, followed this route as far as Thury and set up camp on Roichat Hill (with a stunning view from the Montagne des Alouettes).

From there, they set out to meet their brother Lothair, whom they defeated at the famous Battle of Fontenoy – a victory that determined the fate of Europe for 1,000 years.
According to certain documents, Charles VI, travelling from Paris to the siege of Bourges during the Hundred Years’ War, and François I and Charles IX, a century later, took this route.

Finally, a few details regarding its construction.
In its intact sections, the road consists of:

• a foundation of large stones 0.30m thick
• an intermediate layer 0.18 metres thick
• a top layer of small materials, 0.18m thick

In places where it is raised (Montagne des Alouettes), stones set into the embankment stabilise the slope.
The carriageway is approximately 6 metres wide, which is equivalent to that of the great Via Appia and ranks this road amongst the major roads of Roman Gaul.

My thanks to Monique and Marc for this historical account.