Mareuil-le-Port

Setting in the Marne Valley

Mareuil-le-Port lies in the western part of the Marne département. The river Marne forms the northern boundary of the commune, and the Île Javiot, an island in the middle of the river, belongs to it. Épernay is about 16 kilometres away by road, Reims roughly 40 kilometres via the A4, and Dormans just 9 kilometres. Across 896 hectares, the land rises from 63 metres at the Marne to 224 metres on the Brie plateau.

The commune consists of three villages: Port-à-Binson, with around 650 inhabitants, is the largest, Mareuil-le-Port has about 450 and Cerseuil around 230. In 2023 the total population was exactly 1,150. Mareuil and Port-à-Binson lie at the foot of the slopes of the Marne Valley, while Cerseuil sits in the valley of the Flagot, a small tributary of the Marne.

Viticulture

The local economy is shaped by wine growing, and the grapes harvested here may be made into champagne. Mareuil-le-Port has no Grand Cru or Premier Cru classification. Yet anyone who knows the Vallée de la Marne will tell you that it is villages like this that define the character of the region: winegrowing villages where vineyards and houses sit side by side. Permanent crops, in this area mostly vines, cover just under 46 per cent of the commune (as of 2018). Cerseuil is home to some of the larger wine estates.

“Permanent crops, in this area mostly vines, cover just under 46 per cent of the commune (as of 2018).

Above Cerseuil rises the Bois des Châtaigniers, a wooded hill of around 50 hectares that stands between 170 and 221 metres above the vineyards. It is designated a nature reserve of ecological interest and is covered mainly in oak forest.

History

People have lived here for a very long time. Archaeological finds point to settlement in the Neolithic period. The Mizy tomb, an earth grave, was discovered in 1861 on the site of the abandoned Mizy farm. There was also a Roman settlement on the territory of Port-à-Binson.

Mareuil-sur-Ay in der ChampagneFoto: October Ends, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Sights

• Église Saint-Remi: a listed monument historique, built between the 12th and 17th centuries. The tower and west portal date from the 12th century, the Romanesque nave was renovated in the 16th century, and the transept and choir are in Renaissance style.
• Chapelle Sainte-Barbe: the village's second church, part of the commune's built heritage.
• Mizy tomb: a witness to Neolithic settlement.
• Bois des Châtaigniers: a good walking destination with views over the vineyard slopes.

Since 1984 Mareuil-le-Port has been twinned with Zornheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The cyclist Roger Rondeaux (1920 to 1999) also came from here.

For wine lovers, Mareuil-le-Port is a place away from the big names: it is well worth calling in at a grower in the Marne Valley and tasting a champagne made from fruit grown in the surrounding area.