Pacy-sur-Eure`s Town Centre Circuit

10 R
ue des Crieurs
This street that used to be called Ruelle
Renoult (Renoult Lane) became Massacre Street after the Hundred Years
War because this is where, in 1420, the
English, who were besieging the town,
climbed over the walls with rope ladders
and began slaughtering the inhabitants
that had not already fled into the
countryside. Later the street was named
Shouters Street because street-merchants were numerous there on market
day and they would shout to attract
customers. This street is still one of
the most typical ones in Pacy-sur-Eure.
is a stout eight-sided construction with
a short spire. Most of the early windows
were lancet-shaped but they were altered
at the end of the 14th century. The walls
are strengthened with abutments dating
from the 13th century. Inside, visitors
can see a 16th c. statue of the Virgin with
Child, from the château of Anet, and 16th
c. glass showing St Nicolas. The modern
windows are a creation of Decorchemont, a regional artist.
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Guided Tour Town center
Pacy-Sur-Eure
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11 S
aint Aubin church
Robert II, Lord of Pacy decided to have
a church built in his territory. It is dedicated to Saint Aubin and was built in
two periods : the nave in the first half
of the 13th c. and, as for the choir and
the transept, they were completed in
the second half of the same century. The
tower, erected above transept crossing,
www.cape-tourisme.fr
Office de Tourisme
des Portes de l’Eure ***
Place Dufay - 27120 Pacy-sur-Eure
02 32 26 18 21
www.cape-tourisme.fr
information@cape-tourisme.fr
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ouis-Edouard Isambard
At N°37 Rue de Pacel, stands Edouard
Isambard’s house, a doctor born in Pacy,
one of the founders of the local Republican Committee. He was a mayor and was
also elected to the French Parliament in
1890. He is the one who greatly contributed to the “Loi de 1901” (Law of 1901)
being passed – a very important French
law organizing Associations and Trusts,
(and which still stands). He had simple
tastes and was so generous with destitute
people that he was called “the doctor of
the poor”. At the beginning of the 20th
century, in order to preserve the memory
of this great man, Regional authorities
decided to name the main shopping street
of Pacy after him.
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Pacy-Sur-Eure
1 T
he Eure Valley Railway
In 1864, local and regional authorities
granted a concession to Mr Girard and
Desroches to build the Dreux-Louviers
and Pacy-Gisors railway lines. In 1873,
Pacy station where the two lines branch
was inaugurated, but over a century
later the Dreux-Louviers line definitively
closed in 1989. The Eure Valley Railway
was founded in 1993 and since 1996 it
has enabled railway fans and tourists
to discover the Eure valley aboard
carefully restored vintage trains.
2 A
ristide Briand statue
The statue was erected in 1933 by public
subscription. At the back of the monument a bronze plaque shows the Prime
Minister’s profile in a medallion. His
death mask has been placed in a case
inside the statue. Aristide Briand was
called “the Apostle of Peace” as homage
paid to his exceptional political career.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1926 and, thanks to this money,
bought a country house at Cocherel,
a near-by village.
3 R
ue de Pacel
Until the end of the 18th century, Pacy
was governed provincially in Rouen,
whereas Pacel came under Parisian administration. This frontier between these
two provinces (Normandy and Ile de
France) is shown by the bridge over Moraine brook. Pacel was then a village composed of small hamlets: Pacel, Guespin
and les Ajoux. Saint Martin church and
Saint Sulpice priory were then situated
at number 38 and 40 in Rue de Pacel but
they no longer exist. In 1726 there were
199 inhabitants at Pacel and on June
29th, Pacel merged with Pacy-sur-Eure.
5 T
he City hall
This public building was successively
called Chambre de ville (City chamber),
Maison de ville (House of the town) and
finally Hotel de ville (City hall). At the
beginning of the 20th century the statue
of Edouard Isambard was erected in front
of it, but during World War II non-ferrous
metals were salvaged; consequently, the
statue was removed and re-cast to make
new weapons.
6 R
ue de France
One evening, in the year 1731, l’Abbé
Prévost (Reverend Prévost) together with
his friend the Duke de la Force stopped
for supper at an inn in rue de France.
A group of young women-prisoners in
chains arrived at the inn and a man of
the gentry named Chevalier Des Grieux,
asked l’Abbé Prévost and the Duke to
intercede with the guards so as to allow
Manon, one of the girls whom he was
in love with, to spend a last night with
him. L’Abbé Prévost drew his inspiration
from this striking event when he later
wrote one of the masterpieces of French
literature, Manon Lescaut.
7 M
ill Island
Abbey Street was renamed Rue des
Moulins (Mill street) during the Revolution because it leads to former mills built
on the Eure river. Among others, there
were especially two mills called “twin
mills”. One of them, belonged to the Hoteterre family (famous musicians
from La Couture Boussey) and the other,
to Mr Lavril who owned the Royal Chocolate factory.
8 H
ospital
At the beginning of the 13th century,
King Louis IX (Saint Louis) founded an
almshouse for poor people from Pacy
and the neighbourhood. At the end of
the 17th c., the leper and lazar hospitals
merged with it. Finally, as the buildings
had fallen too much into decay, the hospital closed down in the mid 19th c. and
moved to Rue du Faubourg. Today the
last remains can be seen in front
of Ile des Moulins (Mill Island)
9 H
ôtel - Restaurant
« l’Etape de la Vallée »
At the beginning of the 20th century, the
mill that existed there was turned into
a tilery and later into a private hospital.
This is where Henri Gault was born in
1920, one of the founders of the famous
Gault & Millaud restaurant guidebook.
Today’s hotel and restaurant opened
there after World War II.