Orconte

Location

Orconte lies in the south-east of the Marne département, right on the border with the Haute-Marne. The village belongs to the Perthois, an agricultural region that has far less to do with vines than with fields, woodland and water. Around 365 people live here (as of 2023), and the commune covers roughly 14 square kilometres. The terrain is flat and varies only between 113 and 124 metres in altitude.

The distances by road show its position between two small towns:

• Vitry-le-François: 15 km
• Saint-Dizier: 18 km
• Sermaize-les-Bains: 23 km
• Châlons-en-Champagne: 47 km

The Lac du Der-Chantecoq, the largest reservoir in France, lies only about five kilometres to the south.

Orconte and Champagne

Orconte is classified neither as a grand cru nor as a premier cru, and viticulture does not shape the look of the village. The land use makes this clear: a good half of the area is arable land, a good fifth is woodland, and there are numerous bodies of water besides. South of the canal lie many former gravel and sand pits, which now stand in the landscape as lakes.

For visitors travelling for champagne, the village is therefore more a quiet stopover than a destination for cellar visits. If you are looking for the great vineyard sites, keep going towards Épernay and Reims. If you would like to get to know the landscape on the edge of Champagne, you will find a still, spacious area of water and open land here.

“Around 365 people live here (as of 2023), and the commune covers roughly 14 square kilometres.

The village lies between the river Orconté to the north and the canal between Champagne and Burgundy to the south. The Orconté is 31 kilometres long, rises near Trois-Fontaines-l'Abbaye and joins the Marne at Frignicourt. The Marne-Saône canal links the valleys of the Marne and the Saône over 160 kilometres. The climate is oceanic, and at the nearest weather station in Frignicourt the annual mean is 11.5 °C.

Hautvillers Champagne, Orte und Reisen

History

Excavations near Orconte have uncovered a village from the Neolithic and prehistoric periods. The place became known through the campaign in France: on 18 March 1814 Napoleon set up his headquarters here and spent the night at the Château du Plessis. At the same time Tsar Alexander I was staying in Vitry-le-François.

Orconte also played a part in the 20th century. During the Battle of the Marne in 1914 there was a command post here, and squadrons of a mounted chasseur regiment were quartered in the village. In autumn 1939 an airfield was built south of the village, where from 17 September the reconnaissance group II/33 arrived with Potez 63 aircraft.

What to see

The source names the church of Saint-Georges as the sight worth seeing. A walk along the canal and the wooded banks of the Orconté is also worthwhile. Orconte combines well with a day trip to the Lac du Der.