On the occasion of the European Heritage Days (16 and 17 September 2023), the Association pour la Mémoire et l'Animation de l'Est d'Orléans (AMAE) offers visitors four tours to discover the East Quarter of Orléans: the popular heritage, the heritage of the daily life of the inhabitants of the district. This discovery tour offers a visit to the alleys of the Saint-Marc district.
It allows, in urban areas, to discover green areas outside of urban nuisances and traffic. The name venelle comes from the word vein. In contrast to an artery that means a high-traffic road, the alley is a passage that aims to open up the plots. The access roads are private and were created on the goodwill of the owners to surrender a strip of adjacent land to allow access to a wheelbarrow. This is why half of the land belongs to each owner of the alley. The city of Orléans is rich in these paths on the outskirts of the city. They are numerous as in Beaumonts (Beaux-Monts) or Vaupulents (Vaux =valley, pulents = latin opulantace = rich valley).
Although these routes are private, they are accessible to discover beautiful hidden gardens and especially give the city a green lung. To preserve this heritage, each visitor must respect the residents and keep the cleanliness of the place because they are the responsibility of each inhabitant. Enjoy a stroll through this maze of veins that irrigate a bucolic heritage in the heart of the city. The route (4h/4,5km - Difficile à pied) is described in a booklet downloadable on the amae.eu website or which will be available on the association’s stand on the occasion of Rentrée en Fête (10 September 2023). The tour is guided by small panels that include at least a small text, sometimes an illustration. For some places, a QR Code refers to more elaborate content available on the association’s website. These tours are intended for a wide audience: historical inhabitants who will remember old times and will be able to complete the information, newcomers who seek to better know the history of the places, enthusiasts of contemporary history, families, the curious. Through these circuits, AMAE carries out its missions of creating links between the inhabitants and animating the neighborhood by collecting, organizing and disseminating information, testimonies and multiple documents from the inhabitants, supported by research at the metropolitan and departmental archives. This project received financial support from the Development Fund for Associative Life.
This circuit does not invite to disturb the owners of the places indicated in the circuit. Thank you to respect their tranquility.