Thaas

Location

Thaas lies in the south of the Marne département in the Grand Est region, a good 16 kilometres by road from Sézanne. It is 51 kilometres to Troyes, 60 to Épernay, 56 to Châlons-en-Champagne and 98 to Reims. The commune belongs to the Champagne crayeuse, the chalk Champagne, and covers 1,047 hectares. The terrain is gentle, with heights ranging from 78 to 93 metres.

The Superbe flows through the village, a 40-kilometre tributary of the Aube. Running parallel to it is the Canal de la Noue de Barbara, a non-navigable drainage canal that forms the commune's north-eastern boundary. The climate is oceanic. For 1971 to 2000 the source gives an average annual temperature of 10.4 °C and 668 millimetres of rainfall.

Farmland instead of vineyard slopes

Anyone who thinks of rows of vines when they hear Champagne will not find them in Thaas. The village is neither grand cru nor premier cru. 97.8 per cent of the land is used for agriculture, with 92.3 per cent of that arable land alone. Woodland accounts for only 2.2 per cent, meadows for 1.5 per cent.

“In 1645 the village is recorded as belonging to a Jacques du Val Ognes, a descendant of the lords of Désiré.

According to the figures available, twelve farms are based in the village. They grow cereals and pulses. There is also a wine merchant. For wine lovers, Thaas is above all an example of how varied Champagne looks beyond its famous wine villages.

The village and what to see

Thaas is a linear village. It stretches along the Grande Rue (D 76), which follows the Superbe. Two hamlets belong to the commune:

• La Blossière on the Superbe in the south-east
• Le Château at the northern edge of the village

In 2022 the village counted 50 dwellings, 98 per cent of them single-family houses. The source names the church of Saint-Médard as the sight worth seeing. With 97 inhabitants (1 January 2023), Thaas is very small. Its residents are called Tayons. The village reached its peak in 1841 with 192 people.

Chartogne Taillet Champagne

History

The village name is documented early: as Stat in 1110, as Tast in 1128 and as Thas in 1682. The present spelling Thaas appears in 1729. In 1645 the village is recorded as belonging to a Jacques du Val Ognes, a descendant of the lords of Désiré. Claude du Val Ognes was still buried in the village church in 1726. His descendants left Thaas in 1878.

If you are visiting the area, the best way to reach Thaas is via Sézanne. The village lies away from the main roads and makes a quiet stop on a drive through the south of the Marne.