The Mediolanum archaeological site as seen from Fleurey-sur-Ouche

Head to Fleurey-sur-Ouche and park under the plane trees on Rue de l’Église (^{the first} street on the right after crossing the bridge over the Ouche).

(S/E) With your back to the plane trees, head towards Rue du Château by turning left onto Rue de l’Église. Cross the bridge over the Ouche and continue to the Canal de Bourgogne. Cross the bridge over this canal.

(1) Turn right onto the towpath: after 200 m on tarmac, the path becomes a little bumpy. Follow it all the way, with the canal on your right. Pass the Écluse du Pautet.

(2) Cross at the Morcueil Lock and rejoin the towpath on the left, with the canal on your left. Go round the lock house at the Chassagne Lock and pass under the A38 motorway. Take care and walk carefully as this is a cycle path used in both directions.

(3) Turn right onto Rue de Bourgogne to enter the town of Pont de Pany.

(4) Turn right onto Rue du Lavoir. The path passes under the A38 and leads to the old wash house at Pont de Pany, situated on the Ruisseau de Prâlon.

(5) Turn right to head up towards La Chassagne. Carefully follow the tarmac path of La Chassagne, which climbs steadily through the woods. Pass the private track leading to the château (white gate), and continue until you reach the golf course on the left and the imposing La Chassagne farm on the right.

(6) Continue straight ahead before turning left at a private airfield.

(7) At the next junction, keep left onto the white track running alongside the golf course (guide to the left), and further on pass under the old high-voltage power line. Ignore the side tracks.
You can turn right towards the Mediolanum archaeological site, which is inaccessible as it is closed off by a gate.

(8) Retrace your steps before turning right to join the D104c shortly afterwards. Follow it carefully, keeping to the left.

(9) Immediately after crossing the Douix, turn right onto the path running alongside the stream until you reach the first metal bridge.

(10) Cross it and join a path leading left into the outskirts of Mâlain via Rue d’Aval. At the Calvary cross, turn right onto Rue de la Gare, then right again onto Chemin de la Combe Genneveau.

(11) At the junction near No. 23 Rue de la Gare, continue along the tarmac road and turn right. Walk up to Mâlain SNCF station. Cross the railway tracks via the footbridge built for this purpose.

(12) On the other side, exit the station on the right through the iron gate leading to the platform. Carefully follow Route d'Ancey to the right.

(13) Turn right onto the first path, which leads to the Ancey wash house. Head up towards the cemetery. Follow the road on the right leading to the village of Ancey.

(14) In the centre of the village, turn right onto Rue Basse. Continue to the junction with the D104c, crossing the railway bridge.

(15) Turn left at the wayside cross. Follow this road carefully for a few metres before turning onto the first white track branching off to the right, towards Combe Jardin.
At a bend, just before entering the woodland, at the fork, keep left, leaving the better-defined track that leads to a hunting lodge. It heads towards Mont Grandcy, then turns into a path running below, reaching a T-junction on the Plain du Mont Grandcy at an altitude of 354 metres.

(16) Turn left before the path veers right shortly afterwards. Follow it all the way. When you reach another T-junction, turn right. Take the second path on the left, which descends through scree and veers left, before it joins a cross-path. Head right and go straight down. Cut across a path before joining the white track leading to the Source de Morceuil (on the right).

(17) Turn left onto this white track heading north-east to reach Fleurey-sur-Ouche via Les Graviers and Le Galochot. Come out onto the D104l after the pumping station (wooden sculpture at the junction). Keep right onto Rue de Morcueil. Follow it carefully until you are directly opposite the cemetery.

(18) Turn right onto Rue du Château, then take the second left onto Rue du Clos de la Cure, before passing in front of the church and continuing further down on the right, via Rue de l’Église, to the car park under the plane trees (S/E).

Half the route is through woodland, half across open terrain.
Walking poles recommended for the paths and trails through the woodland.
Avoid crossing the Mont Grandcy woods during the hunting season!

1) Picnic table with benches opposite the community centre in Pont de Pany.
2) Picnic area at the covered wash house in Pont de Pany.
3) Covered shelter on the platform at Mâlain SNCF station, suitable for picnics
4) Covered shelter at the Ancey wash house, suitable for picnics

La Chassage

Its château:
La Chassagne is a pleasure palace and hunting lodge, built in the 19th century at a place known as Pont de Pany. It has been converted into a luxury hotel. Its estate spans two communes: Fleurey-sur-Ouche and Sainte-Marie-sur-Ouche in the Côte-d’Or department, at the entrance to the Ouche Valley. It is not open to visitors.

The property once had a private grass airstrip, measuring 800 m by 50 m, situated just behind the château. It is now disused and has been returned to agricultural use.

The golf course
A beautiful, tree-lined course, particularly pleasant.

The archaeological site of Mediolanum: on the outskirts of Mâlain, on the road to Ancey, lies the ancient site of Mediolanum. The site has been the subject of occasional excavations over the past twenty years by the Groupe Archéologique du Mesmontois (GAM) and now covers a vast area to the south-east of the village, at a place known as La Boussière. The site’s covered gallery reveals the Grande-Rue, lined with shops and workshops. The cobbled alleys, corridors and private passageways provide access to the homes of the era’s dignitaries, complete with kitchens, living rooms, cellars and inner courtyards. The artefacts recovered from the excavations are on display at the Archaeological Museum in Dijon and at the GAM museum in Mâlain. The site encompasses numerous sanctuaries and buildings, most of whose well-preserved remains offer a fascinating insight into a past steeped in history: wells, staircases, cellars, a bread oven, latrines, a guild sanctuary...
Self-guided or guided tours by appointment. Tourist Office: 03 80 49 77 43
Closed in winter.

Lime kilns: just outside Mâlain railway station
These old lime kilns are not open to visitors (private property) but the large building is clearly visible from the station.

Field wash house in Ancey
Standing alone in the middle of the fields, it is large enough to serve as a shelter and picnic area. The spring that still supplies the wash house today was first developed in Gallo-Roman times. Three stone aqueducts carried water to Mediolanum, an ancient Gallo-Roman city.
Below, three paved basins that were used for retting hemp.

Fleurey-sur-Ouche
Before returning to the car park:
1) Just before the cemetery, at the junction of Rue de Morcueil and Rue de la Croix Saint-Pierre, the winegrower’s house, listed as a heritage site, recalls what houses used to look like in the past.
2) The parish church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste is in a transitional style, between Romanesque and Gothic. It is closed to visitors
3) Further down, at number 3 Rue du Château, a manor house dating from 1513, with Burgundian glazed tiles, restored and currently occupied.