32 - The Joux estate
Start: Stade du pont à Tence
From the Pont stadium, you can enjoy the view over the village of Tence, set on the banks of the Lignon, a tributary of the Loire. You will follow the Lignon and the Bathelane pond to reach the bucolic village of Chenereilles by a small road. Finally, you will return by the tourist route linking Yssingeaux and Tence (D103), and will be able to glimpse the Tour de Joux and the Château de Joux.
- Distance
- 13.6 km
- Elevation gain
- +235 m
- Elevation loss
- -235 m
- Duration
- 1 h 30 min
Route on the map
Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA): route licensed under ETALAB-2.0 via Données : Comité Départemental Randonnée Pédestre Haute-Loire · FFRandonnée · sportsnature.hauteloire.fr — sous licence ETALAB 2.0.
The feel of the route
The Château de Joux
The fief of Joux was probably created in the 11th century, as a dependency of the barony of La Brosse. Around the middle of the 16th century Protestantism appeared, which would drag the region into bloody wars. The Velay was deeply Catholic, but Protestantism developed on the Vivarais-Lignon Plateau and most of the lords fought against it. Around 1570, the Baron de la Brosse summoned the neighbouring lords to organise the defence, in particular Mathieu de Joux, lord of Laniel, and Charles de Geoffroy de Joux.
On 15 October 1584, Gasparde Geoffroy de Joux married François Durranc, a Huguenot, lord of Baffie in the Vivarais. The owners of Joux went over to the Protestant side for two generations. In 1621, Daniel Durranc, heir to Joux, married Lucrèce de la Planche, a Catholic. Under Lucrèce's influence, their son would be baptised and Daniel would convert to Catholicism.
In pictures
Other hikes in the area
Mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking