This small town in central France’s Cher department is embedded in a pastoral landscape of vineyards, marshes, and lakes.
Vierzon was a railroad town with an equitable industrial market share in the 19th and 20th centuries, like Société Française de Vierzon, which produced tractors and farming equipment. Vierzon is now quaint and rural and will draw you into traditional ways of life, whether that’s steam trains, old porcelain trade or ochre mining. Outdoor fun is on the menu at the Canal de Berry, a picturesque 19th-century waterway for walks and boat trips, while the marvelous city of Bourges is only half an hour by car. Discover the best things to do in Vierzon.
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1. Musée de Vierzon
Complimented with the “Musée de France”, the town museum of Vierzon, handle some strings from its past. One of these is Vierzon’s evolution as a railway town after 1847, so there are tools, lamps, posters and models from the old Vierzon depot.
The town also had a booming porcelain industry in the early 20th century and has several display cabinets with elegant ornaments. And then there’s Vierzon’s role in manufacturing farming equipment, so you can inspect a small fleet of tractors, plows, and threshers made by the Société Française de Vierzon.
2. Square Lucien Beaufrère
One of the most special things in Vierzon is that this garden is located on a small island between the Yèvre and Canal de Berry. The plot was bought by the town from the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in the 20s and was landscaped in a methodical Art Deco style by the architect Eugène-Henry Karcher.
He went as far as determining the colors of the plants and trees, and almost every piece of flora is sculpted in some way. The garden centers on a pacifist monument to the First World War dead sculpted from Lavoux stone, with reliefs depicting the town’s different trades.
3. Beffroi de Vierzon
The venerable temperature Vierzon is actually an old port, called Porte Banier, which is the main entrance to the lost Château de Vierzon. It is the last remaining fragment of this castle and was built in the 1200s.
But much later, when Vierzon’s town defenses were all pulled down in the 1800s, they were capped with a clock and bell. They came from Porte aux Boeufs, one of the Vierzon gates, which were leveled to allow the town to grow beyond the old walls. Contact the Vierzon tourism office, for instructions.
4. Église Notre-Dame
Vierzon’s main church first went up in the 1100s before being remodeled a few times since. Come and whip a little bit because there are so many historical traces from many ages left. The bell-tower dates to the 1200s, while there’s a fine organ inside from the 1600s.
Also worth your attention is a Romanesque sculpted holy water as old as the 1000s, various medieval chapels and a painting of St John the Baptist by the 17th-century painter Jean Boucher and a carved pulpit from the 18th century.
But the standout has to be the exquisite stained glass window of the Crucifixion from the 1400s.
5. Musée des Fours Banaux
This cute little museum reveals an aspect of the daily French medieval life that you don't often see. It contains two 15th-century ovens, unique to the entire area, where townspeople can bake their own bread.
These stone kilns are the center of social life in Vierzon and the place where the town will meet and chat. There’s also a small collection of artifacts, including two statues from the 1400s, and a small set of everyday items unearthed during excavations.
You can also see two former town clocks, one from the 15th century and the other retired in the 1800s.
6. Esplanade la Française
Right next to the Museum is the old factory of Société Française, where the Vierzonùi tractors were manufactured in the early 20th century. It’s an atmospheric site that has recently been regenerated.
The factory is listed as a monument to French history, and you can see why with its Eiffel-style metal and glass façade. You can admire this charming old structure from the Esplanade la Française in the front.
And in the evening, the factory is still an important part of the city when a movie theater and bowling alley are opened in the newer concrete block of the building.
7. Canal de Berry
The Vierzon crossing was built using Spanish POWs in the first decades of the 19th century. It was part of a network of waterways that connected the Canal Latéral à la Loire with the Cher River.
The canal has been disused since the 1950s, but a 12-kilometer section has been made navigable again and there are plans to reopen more in the future. The waterfront comes alive in July and August for the Les Estivales du Canal when there is a water-season concert at Lucien Beaufrère Square.
The poplar-lined towpaths offer a restful walking trail, and you can hire a motorboat or pedal-boat at the Quai du Bassin for a brief voyage through the countryside.
8. Site de la Maison de l’Eau
In Neuvy-Sur-Barangeon a 15th-century watermill and its surrounding parkland have been turned into a kind of discovery center for the Sologne.
In the mill, you can learn about how this old slice of medieval history worked, but there are also displays about the local wetlands and the weird carnivorous plants that have evolved here.
Outside there’s a landscaped park with a bamboo plantation and a large lake where fishing is permitted. You can also check out the Tourbière de la Guette, a peat bog with lots of wildlife you can see from an elevated wooden walkway.
9. Villa de Quincy
Just the ticket if you’d like to uncover the region’s rich wine heritage: The Villa de Quincy is a small exhibition in the nearby village of the same name, using multimedia to recount the history of the Quincy/Reuilly AOC. There’s also a display charting the spread of sauvignon grapes around the world.
The exhibition is light-hearted and interactive, often asking you to use your sense of smell. At the shop, you’ll be able to buy a bottle or two, together with all sorts of oenological accessories.
10. Abbaye Saint-Martin de Massay
This abbey church has its roots in the 8th century, and the legendary Charlemagne is known to have visited in the earliest years. Fast forward to the Hundred Years’ War in the 14th century and a lot of the Romanesque complex was destroyed to be rebuilt in the Gothic style.
The monastery was closed in the 18th century but there is still plenty to see. The church’s 42-meter tower, designed for defense, will catch your eye thanks to its formidable buttresses that culminate with pinnacles at the top.
You can explore the church, with wooden choir stalls dating back to the 16th century and into the arched Hall, where there is a monastic dorm on the first floor. If you want to leave no stone unturned you can arrange an hour-long guided visit in advance.
More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Bourg en Bresse
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