Bignicourt-sur-Saulx

Location

Bignicourt-sur-Saulx lies in the south-east of the Marne département, in the Grand Est region. The village belongs to the Perthois, a landscape defined more by fields than by vineyards. It is 17 kilometres by road to Vitry-le-François and 11 kilometres to Sermaize-les-Bains. Châlons-en-Champagne, the prefecture of the département, is 47 kilometres away.

The commune has 153 inhabitants (2023) and covers a little over 11 square kilometres. The terrain is flat, ranging between 109 and 130 metres above sea level. The village itself sits between the Canal de la Marne au Rhin and the D995 departmental road. There is just one hamlet, the Ferme du Sorton in the south.

Landscape and water

North of the canal, the commune is wooded and crossed by the Saulx. The river is 115 kilometres long, rises at Germay and flows into the Marne near Vitry-le-François. The canal links the Marne with the Rhine at Strasbourg and is 293 kilometres long. South of the departmental road, farming dominates, with only the Bois du Chênois in the south-east breaking up the fields.

“Even the village name once carried the region as a suffix: the form "Bignicourt-en-Champagne" is recorded for the year 1777.

• Agricultural land: 75.3 per cent (2018)
• Arable land: 68.7 per cent
• Woodland: 21.7 per cent
• Built-up area: 3 per cent

Champagne and the surrounding area

Bignicourt-sur-Saulx is neither a grand cru nor a premier cru village, and viticulture does not shape the place. Those who stop here come for the quiet and for a look at the lesser-known side of Champagne, with its farmland and river valleys. Even the village name once carried the region as a suffix: the form "Bignicourt-en-Champagne" is recorded for the year 1777. For wine lovers, the village is more a stop along the way, for example on the road to the vine slopes further north and west.

Philipponnat Champagner Flasche

History and sights

The village name has been recorded in numerous spellings since the 13th century, with the earliest references dating from 1217. In the First World War the village suffered badly: when the Germans invaded in 1914, 12 civilians were shot and 30 buildings destroyed. On 11 August 1921 the commune was awarded the Croix de guerre 1914-1918.

The German Wikipedia lists the Château de Bignicourt and the church of Saint-Mathieu as sights. The historian Arthur Barbat de Bignicourt (1824 to 1888) came from the village.

Getting there

The D995, formerly the N395, passes the village to the south, and the D259 connects it with the village centre. The railway line from Paris to Strasbourg also runs through the commune. It makes an easy short detour if you are travelling between Vitry-le-François and Sermaize-les-Bains.