Oisy offers two distinct highlights for planning your trip: a walking trail through cultivated fields and the village’s history and architecture around the spring, church and Oisy Stone. You can combine time in the countryside with an interest in the area’s historical features.

Circuit des éoliennes: Countryside and Walking Trail

The Circuit des éoliennes is an easy 10.2-kilometre walking route. It starts and ends in Oisy and follows a nature trail through cultivated fields. The wind turbines offer 360° panoramic views. The circular route is therefore a specific option for an outing that brings you back to Oisy; the fields and viewpoints near the turbines shape the route.

The route can also be ridden by mountain bike. The easy rating applies to walking; mountain biking is another way to enjoy the Circuit. If you plan your day around this route, these details can help you choose between walking and mountain biking, without assuming that the same difficulty rating applies to both.

The Spring, the Village Name and the Church

Oisy grew up around the spring at Place de la Fontaine. It provides a tangible link to the village’s history. Oisy has been recorded under the name AUCIACUS since the late 7th century; the name Oisy has been documented since 1540. The history of the name therefore goes back further than the recorded use of its present form.

The church stands outside the village, on the edge of a stream. Its present building includes an older section with a nave and choir, as well as a projecting bell tower. Two chapels give the church the floor plan of a Latin cross. The nave is the building’s main longitudinal space, while the choir is a distinct area; together with the chapels, these features explain the described cross shape. The architecture offers another way to explore the village’s history, alongside the spring and the recorded forms of its name.

The statue “Sainte Anne, éducation de la Vierge” is in the Chapelle Sainte-Anne. It is made of polychrome-painted limestone. Polychrome means multicoloured: both the material and its colourful finish are therefore part of the artwork’s description.

Oisy Stone and Its Uses

Oisy Stone is considered hard and frost-resistant. It was used for slabs, paving stones, pavement edging, troughs, livestock watering troughs and gravestones. These examples range from building components and paving to objects serving various purposes. They give the stone a tangible connection to local building and craft traditions without limiting it to a single use.

There is also a named example of this material outside Oisy: boundary stones made of Oisy Stone remain in part of the square in front of Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Auxerre. This adds a specific connection to another place to the list of its former uses.

Wind Farm and Former Chapel

The Clamecy/Oisy wind farm was the first wind farm in the Nièvre department. Four of its six wind turbines are in Oisy. Together with the 360° panoramic views on the Circuit des éoliennes, the turbines are among the area’s clearly defined landscape features. When planning your visit, you can set this aspect against the historical highlights: here, the focus is on the landscape and wind turbines; there, on local history around the spring, church and stone.

A former chapel in Oisy was destroyed in a severe fire and restored in 2018. It currently houses a photography studio. If you are considering a visit, check access locally beforehand. The former chapel thus remains part of the village’s history, while its current use can be taken into account when planning your visit.

Discover more destinations: Château-Chinon, Menou, Montenoison, Saint-Seine, Rémilly, Saint-Malo-En-Donziois, Gimouille, Marigny-Sur-Yonne

For the broader travel overview: Nièvre.