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LES GAGNERIES

Walks and hikes in Saint-Malo-de-Guersac
5.5 km
Loop
Walking/pedestrian
1h 15min
Easy

  • Accessible to families with young children

  • The Brière islands include the communes of Saint-Joachim and Saint-Malo-de-Guersac.
    In these communes, each island is a village and each village is organised in a concentric, typical way that has remained almost unchanged for generations.

    Each part of the island has a specific function: the canal runs around the island and links the houses to the marsh. The "levée", or levee, is home to vegetable gardens and (in the past) peat reserves. It is divided into plots, each corresponding to a...
    The Brière islands include the communes of Saint-Joachim and Saint-Malo-de-Guersac.
    In these communes, each island is a village and each village is organised in a concentric, typical way that has remained almost unchanged for generations.

    Each part of the island has a specific function: the canal runs around the island and links the houses to the marsh. The "levée", or levee, is home to vegetable gardens and (in the past) peat reserves. It is divided into plots, each corresponding to a thatched cottage. On either side, these border a road that runs around the island.

    At the centre of the islands is an open space known as the "gagnerie". The name "gagnerie" comes from the word "gagner", in the archaic sense of the word, meaning "to graze".
    As the highest part of the island, the gagnerie was used for livestock farming, at least half the year round. In the summer months, the herds were driven to the flooded meadows of the marshes, which were then emerging.

    In spring and summer, the land was used to grow cereals such as wheat, which was then milled in the mills on the larger islands.
    In order to maximise the use of the small open space that was generally made up of the gagnies, they were devoid of trees and hedges, and the plots were marked out by boundary stones.

    In Saint-Malo-de-Guersac, the "gagnéie" (a type of market garden) occupies the centre of the island in an exemplary fashion.
    This 5km walk invites you to discover it, its small heritage and the picturesque views it affords of the surrounding Brière.