- Département
- Marne
- Site
- Champagne crayeuse, Moivre valley, south-east of Châlons-en-Champagne
- Inhabitants
- 197 (as at 1 January 2023)
- Source
- Wikipedia, eigene Zusammenfassung
A small village on the Moivre in the Champagne crayeuse, south-east of Châlons-en-Champagne. Not a cru village, but farmland with the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
Location
Saint-Jean-sur-Moivre lies in the Marne département, about 15 kilometres south-east of Châlons-en-Champagne. By road it is roughly 18 kilometres to the prefecture. The commune covers 1,507 hectares, and the land rises from 103 to 214 metres. To the north stands the Mont de Noix, to the south Mont Bernois and Mont Epée, both of which top 200 metres. Between them the village sits in the valley of the Moivre. Neighbouring communes are Marson, Coupéville, Saint-Amand-sur-Fion and Dampierre-sur-Moivre. On 1 January 2023 the commune had 197 inhabitants.
The Moivre
The Moivre is a small river, 23 kilometres long. It rises in the commune of Moivre, flows from east to west through Saint-Jean and joins the Marne near Vésigneul-sur-Marne. It gave the village its name. The climate is described as a modified oceanic one, with cool summers and cold winters. At the nearest weather station, in Fagnières, around 20 kilometres away, the annual mean for 1991 to 2020 was 11.2 °C, with rainfall of about 632 millimetres.
On 1 January 2023 the commune had 197 inhabitants.The MoivreThe Moivre is a small river, 23 kilometres long.
Farming rather than vineyards
Saint-Jean-sur-Moivre belongs to the Champagne crayeuse, the "chalk Champagne". This is a wide, open agricultural landscape. Around 96 per cent of the commune's land is farmed, almost all of it arable. The village has no grand cru or premier cru classification, and the sources mention no significant viticulture. The Marne's big vineyard areas lie elsewhere, on the Montagne de Reims, in the Marne valley and on the Côte des Blancs. For wine lovers, then, the village is more a stop on a drive through rural Champagne than a destination for grower visits.
History and sights
The name appears in documents as early as the 12th century. A church is mentioned already in 1107, and in 1152 the village is recorded as "Sanctus Johannes super Mouviam". The patron saint of the church is John the Baptist. During the French Revolution the village was briefly known as Moivrecourt and Moivremont. On 3 July 1964 a fire destroyed the houses near the church.
- Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, dating from the 13th century, the village's most important building
- Walks in the Moivre valley and up to the Mont de Noix
Administratively, Saint-Jean-sur-Moivre has belonged since 2014 to the Communauté de communes de la Moivre à la Coole and lies within the catchment area of Châlons-en-Champagne. If you are planning a stay in the area, the town offers the better choice of accommodation and restaurants. The village itself is best suited to a short stop at the church.
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