CLECY, CAPITAL OF THE
"NORMAN SWITZERLAND"
The
title "Capitale of the "Norman Switzerland",
given in 1932 by Mr Gourdeau, Minister of Tourism, was the
most appropriate to our so charming city, in the middle of
this region.
With about forty hamlets and localities,
and 1200 inhabitants, its relatively unknown history would
date back to the Carolingian era, or even Merovingian: there
used to be a cemetary around the church, a cross proves this
origin.
Later, in the feudal era, castles
and mostly manors were built in Clécy and its area. About
ten still exist and a few of them are in good condition.
More recently, the Orne and its banks
have changed, and this has had strong repercussions nowadays.
In the eighteenth century, our ancestors did not really care
about tourism, but the fords, mills and fisheries built at
that time are an heritage which a lot of country can envy.
Who could imagine its surroundings in the Moulin du Vey (Mill
of the Vey) and its barrage, without its little bridges made
with local stone, and its famous viaduct crossing the Orne,
fitting so well into the countryside.
Not so long ago, painters such as
Pissaro, Moteley, hardy, amongst others, succeeded in recreating
the gold of the brooms, the pink of the apple trees in spring,
the brown of the rocks standing out against the soft green
meadows in the summer, and the melancholic copper colour of
the woods in autumn.
Nowadays, tourism develops itself
in a peaceful environment, with the Orne's winding meanders,
swelled with many streams.
Source : Office du tourisme
de Clécy
|
