Tours and detours around Pointe Saint-Martin

Between 1783 and 1788, the barracks of the Dragons de la Reine (destroyed in the 1917 bombings) were built on the site of the current Lycée Paul-Claudel. The fountains and drinking troughs, located outside the enclosure, were designed to meet the needs of the military. They were enlarged in 1811 and used throughout the 19th century, and even before the First World War horses still came to drink there. If you look back over the water troughs, you can see on your right an old fortified town gate - now walled in - known as the Porte de la Sainte Fontaine.

You are standing at the foot of one of the most important sites in the history of Laon's military occupation: highly strategic - it covered the entire western part, from the valleys of Anizy to Crépy and the plains to the north - it is said that a castle called "Gaillot" briefly occupied this area in the early 10th century. But it was not until the 13th century that a wall was built around the entire Champ Saint-Martin area.Shortly before the French Revolution, this role as a stronghold was reinforced with the construction of the barracks of the Queen's Dragons, more or less on the site of the current Lycée Paul-Claudel.The barracks were destroyed during the First World War by... French soldiers (remember that Laon was under German rule at the time, making it a target to be reconquered). It's also worth noting that over the centuries, this vast area was home to a number of mills in a sector that was particularly well exposed to the westerly winds. Today, the lycée provides access to this eminence for local events (such as the Fête de la Nature and the Journées du Patrimoine).  

Here you are at the foot of the Pointe Saint-Martin, the defensive highpoint of this western part of the fortified belt.At the top of these ramparts stood the imposing Classon battery, defending the access via Laniscourt with its cannons in the late 19th century, as well as the mills, which were particularly well exposed in this windy part of the town. It should be noted that access to the tower is possible on the occasion of certain events, such as the Fête de la Nature in May or the European Heritage Days in September...

One of the oldest cemeteries in France, opened in March 1793, eleven years before Père Lachaise in Paris! Situated on a hillside at the foot of the city walls, on a sloping 5-hectare site, it enjoys a unique panorama. Among the 2,000 tombs, some present a very varied range of funerary architecture and tell individual or family stories.There are many tombs of prominent people from Laon: clergymen, former mayors of the town (including Antoine de Beffroy de la Grève, Jacques-François Glatigny and Georges Ermant), local notables (such as Lucien Limasset, founder of the first Syndicat d'Initiatives before the First World War, and the revolutionary Jacques François Laurent Devisme).You can also come across the obelisk erected in memory of the mobile guards killed in the explosion of the Laon citadel in September 1870, or the graves of eight Commonwealth soldiers (whose plane crashed nearby in May 1942...). It's an unusual place in the town to discover, and one that has recently been enhanced by the Groupe de Recherches et d'Études du Cimetière Saint-Just (GRECS)!  Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

One of the most surprising paths in Laon: you can't imagine you're in the city at all when you walk along it, even though you can still make out all the everyday sounds!And this staircase! Walking up it is like walking into a temple lost in the middle of the jungle...More prosaically, in medieval times it gave access to the Saint-Just church (no longer standing) located within the city walls.During the French Revolution, it was referred to as the ‘ruelle qui descend à Saint-Marcel’.

This narrow alleyway, which begins between buildings, will quickly lead you to the ramp of the same name, which is much larger and one of the longest climbs in Laon (almost 1 kilometre in its entire length!).  It did not take on its name of Saint-Just until the 19th or 20th century, as it seems to have been called the Chemin de la Neuville in Laon, or even the Chemin de la Montagne de la Neuville...

This steep, 500-metre-long path (or ‘climb’) was renamed Gaillot Path in 1997. Until recently, there was a small staircase at the top that led to the base of the tower of the same name.The name ‘Gaillot’ probably comes from the castle built at the beginning of the 10th century by Herbert on the site of Pointe Saint-Martin, at the top of the climb.

This is an old path that starts with a staircase at the Ernst Jünger roundabout. It used to link the Foch district to the vast area of land under the Pointe Saint-Martin in the upper town, known as Classon Park.It was from here that Blücher's cannons fired on Napoleon's armies in March 1814... Note that just below this platform was once the Laon swimming pool, now demolished and moved to the lower town.