Anthenay

Location

Anthenay lies in the west of the Marne département, in the Grand Est region. The village is about 31 kilometres from Reims by road, or roughly 27 kilometres as the crow flies, to the west-south-west. It is 13 kilometres to Dormans and 74 kilometres to Châlons-en-Champagne. The commune has belonged to the canton of Dormans-Paysages de Champagne since 2015 and to the Communauté de communes Ardre et Châtillonnais since 2014. Among its neighbours are Villers-Agron-Aiguizy, Olizy, Cuisles, Châtillon-sur-Marne, Vandières and Passy-Grigny.

Landscape and climate

Anthenay belongs to the agricultural landscape of the Tardenois and is a village with widely scattered buildings. The commune covers 664 hectares, and the land rises from 111 to 233 metres. At its centre lies the Plateau de Nogent, bounded by the Ru de Vandières to the south and the Brandouille to the west. To the north rises the forested massif of the Montagne at 211 metres, which Anthenay shares with Villers-Agron-Aiguizy.

The land-use figures for 2018 give a clear picture: 95.8 per cent of the area is farmed, of which 83.8 per cent is arable land. Woodland accounts for 4.2 per cent. Vines, in other words, do not shape this commune. If you are looking for the vineyards of Champagne, you will find them in the wider surroundings. The climate is oceanic. For 1971 to 2000 the source gives an average annual temperature of 10.6 °C and 768 millimetres of rainfall.

“In the First World War there was fighting in and around the village in 1914 and 1918.

History

The village is first mentioned on 9 October 876, in a letter from Archbishop Hincmar. A further mention appears in a tithe account of the Church of Reims from 1306. In the 19th century Anthenay passed from the diocese of Soissons to the diocese of Reims and became part of the Marne département. In the First World War there was fighting in and around the village in 1914 and 1918. For this the commune was awarded the Croix de guerre 1914-1918 on 30 May 1921. The graves of the former military cemetery now lie in the national necropolis at Dormans.

Lanson Champagner Haus

Things to see

• Church of Saint-Symphorien: It is part of the trail of Romanesque churches of the Tardenois. Inside is a tomb slab with a coat of arms, and the year 1550 is also mentioned.
• Les tours d'Anthenay: Above a window sits a coat of arms with the date 1603 and the motto "Sat cito si sat bene", roughly: it is always soon enough if it is well done.
• War memorial: It commemorates the victims of the wars.

With just under 70 inhabitants, Anthenay is a quiet stop for anyone travelling between Reims and the Marne valley who appreciates a bit of landscape and architectural history alongside the glass. The village has no Grand Cru or Premier Cru classification.