Pogny

Location

Pogny lies in the south-east of the Marne département, around 15 kilometres by road from Châlons-en-Champagne, the département's prefecture. It is about 20 kilometres to Vitry-le-François. The village sits on the right bank of the Marne, between the river to the west and the N44 trunk road to the east. At the start of 2023 the commune had 894 inhabitants. It belongs to the Communauté de communes de la Moivre à la Coole and to the catchment area of Châlons.

The commune covers 1,405 hectares. Elevations range from 85 metres in the river valley to 172 metres at Mont Faverger in the east. This is where the hills of the chalky Champagne, the Champagne crayeuse, begin, cut through by the Moivre.

Rivers and nature

Water shapes the place. The Marne flows past the village, with the Canal latéral à la Marne running parallel. The lateral canal is 67 kilometres long and links Vitry-le-François with Mardeuil. From the east comes the Moivre, a 23-kilometre river that joins the Marne at Vésigneul-sur-Marne. Two former gravel pits, now flooded as lakes, add to the scenery.

“The church of La Nativité-de-la-Notre-Dame has been a listed monument since 1915.

The part west of the Marne belongs to a large nature reserve that stretches along the Marne valley from Vitry-le-François to Épernay. Alluvial woodland, oxbow lakes, damp meadows and reed beds give many animal and plant species room to live.

What to see

The village name is recorded from the early 12th century, at that time still in the Latin form Villa Sancte Marie de Pugneio. Over the centuries the spelling changed several times until Pogny finally settled.

• The church of La Nativité-de-la-Notre-Dame has been a listed monument since 1915.
• A Celtic necropolis from the La Tène period bears witness to early settlement.
• A walk along the Marne and the canal makes a pleasant stop on the road between Châlons and Vitry.

Pogny for champagne lovers

Pogny is not a grand cru or premier cru village and not a classic winegrowing village. Land use is predominantly agricultural: around 87 per cent of the commune is farmland, most of it arable. Vineyard area is not listed separately in the statistics. For the wine world, then, the place is more a starting point than a destination.

If you want to get to know the Champagne away from the famous vine slopes, you will find here the landscape of the chalk plain and the Marne valley, which is just as much part of the region. From Pogny you can reach Châlons-en-Champagne in a short time, and a visit there combines nicely with a tasting.