Sarcy

Location

Sarcy lies in the north-west of the Marne département, about 15 kilometres west-southwest of Reims on the Ardre. The commune covers 690 hectares and belongs to the Montagne de Reims and its Regional Nature Park. In agricultural terms the area is counted as part of the Tardenois. By road it is around 19 kilometres to Reims and about 60 kilometres to Châlons-en-Champagne. Neighbouring communes include Bligny, Aubilly, Chambrecy and Ville-en-Tardenois.

Several valleys meet in the village: that of the Ardre to the east, that of the Brandeuille stream to the south and that of the Ruisseau du Parc d'Aulnay to the west. Between them rise hills such as the Mont de Ville (167 m) and the Mont d'Aulnay (161 m). The highest point is the Montagne de Bligny at 197 metres. Overall the terrain ranges between 100 and 197 metres above sea level.

Landscape and climate

Sarcy is classed neither as a grand cru nor as a premier cru. The look of the commune is shaped above all by farming: around 91 per cent of the land is used for agriculture, most of it arable (75.5 per cent). Permanent crops, which in Champagne typically means vines, take up 5.7 per cent, woodland 5.4 per cent and built-up land 3.9 per cent.

“The nearest weather station, at Chambrecy, recorded an annual mean temperature of 10.7 °C and an average of 734 millimetres of rainfall for the period 1991 to 2020.

The climate is temperate with cool summers. The nearest weather station, at Chambrecy, recorded an annual mean temperature of 10.7 °C and an average of 734 millimetres of rainfall for the period 1991 to 2020. The extremes are of interest to anyone with an eye on the wine: 40.3 °C in July 2019 and minus 22.1 °C in January 1985.

History

The area has been settled for a very long time. Traces from the Neolithic period have been found, along with Gallo-Roman and medieval objects. The place is mentioned as Villa sarciacum in 877. It belonged to the diocese of Reims. The Dames du Val de Grâce, ladies of Sarcy, had a convent built here. The village suffered badly in the First World War, and the church was entirely rebuilt afterwards.

Cumières

Things to see

Sarcy is a quiet village with 268 inhabitants (2023). If you pass through on a route across the Montagne de Reims, you will find:

• the church of Saint-Just, rebuilt in 1925 in a rustic neo-Romanesque style, with a polychrome Madonna and Child from the 15th century and a figure of St John from the 14th century
• the war memorial
• the town hall (mairie)
• the old wash house (lavoir)
• the two-hectare pond at the Moulin de Sarcy

Sarcy makes a peaceful stop on a visit, for instance on a drive from Reims through the Ardre valley.