Vert-Toulon

Location

Vert-Toulon lies in the Marne département, about 55 kilometres south-south-west of Reims and roughly ten kilometres south of the Côte des Blancs. The village sits on the Route touristique du Champagne. The south of the commune reaches into the Marais de Saint-Gond, a marshy area through which the Petit Morin flows. Above the village rises the Montagne de Toulon, a butte témoin: a lone hill left standing as the remnant of a former plateau. On the Petit Morin there is also a watermill, which irrigates a large meadow.

The commune has 281 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2023). If you are travelling without a car, you can reach Vert-Toulon by bus line Z from Épernay or Vertus, which in 2025 runs two return trips a day, except on Sundays and public holidays.

Viticulture

Vert-Toulon is above all an agricultural village. About 100 hectares of vineyard belong to the commune, but most of the land is given over to arable farming, with woodland and damp meadows besides. The village is classified neither as grand cru nor as premier cru. That is exactly why it is worth a visit for those who like to stray from the big names and want to get to know Champagne in its quieter corners.

“On the Petit Morin there is also a watermill, which irrigates a large meadow.The commune has 281 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2023).

History

The present commune came into being on 1 September 1973, when Toulon-la-Montagne was merged with Vert-la-Gravelle. The names themselves tell of the landscape: Vert goes back to the Gaulish word for alders, which grow along streams and rivers. Toulon essentially means hill or rise.

The area has been settled since very early times. A Roman road from Meaux ran through the commune, and several burial grounds testify to early settlement. At Vert-la-Gravelle, archaeologists digging between 2013 and 2020 found pits, wells and long trenches used for flint mining in the Neolithic. The Marais de Saint-Gond were also the scene of a battle in the First World War. Since 2017 Vert-Toulon has belonged to the arrondissement of Épernay, having previously belonged to Châlons-en-Champagne.

Bergères-lès-Vertus

Things to see

• Hypogeum of Vert-la-Gravelle, a Neolithic burial chamber of the Seine-Oise-Marne culture
• Neolithic burial ground and a burial ground from the 4th century
• Ruins of the Château de Gravelle, dating from the 13th century
• Church of Saint-Pierre in Vert-la-Gravelle, 15th and 16th century, protected as a monument historique
• Church of Saint-Vincent in Toulon-la-Montagne

The best way to fit in a trip here is to combine it with a detour into the Côte des Blancs. Leave time for a walk along the Petit Morin: the contrast between vine slopes, meadows and marshland is what gives this village its charm.