In Thaon, you can choose from walks of different lengths and with different highlights: a short 3 km route runs along the eastern side of the Mue Valley, while other routes follow small village paths or lead to the Romanesque Vieille église Saint-Pierre. Protected green spaces and buildings with remarkable architecture add to the discoveries on offer. When planning, it is worth considering both the distance and the theme of each walk.
Walks by length and theme
At 3 km, “Thaon – La Mue” is the shortest of the routes described here and is designated as a short walk. It runs along the eastern side of the Mue Valley. The starting point is the car park at the Maison du Temps Libre, behind the town hall. Both the length and a specific starting point are therefore given for this route.
“Thaon des petits chemins” is 5.5 km long and offers a way to discover the village and its small paths. The walk passes through two protected green spaces, whose subsoil contains traces of Gallo-Roman remains. So, alongside the village paths, this route also offers a historical connection hidden beneath the surface.
Two other options are each 6 km long, but have different highlights. “Thaon – la Vieille Eglise – La Mue” leads to the Vieille église; the Romanesque church is reached after 700 metres on this walk. The route also runs along the eastern side of the Mue Valley. By contrast, “Thaon – Petit tour du village” is a 6 km walk to explore the village. The same distance does not mean the same outing: one route highlights the church and the Mue Valley in its name and description, while the other is a village walk.
Green spaces and buildings
Another way to discover Thaon’s buildings is to take the “Sur les rives de la Mue” route. Visitors can admire castles, manor houses and numerous buildings with remarkable architecture or history along the way. This route therefore focuses on architecture, while “Thaon des petits chemins” brings together protected green spaces and traces of Gallo-Roman remains in the subsoil. Both descriptions offer a distinct guide to choosing a walk, without implying that the routes are the same.
Romanesque church and Château de Thaon
The Vieille église Saint-Pierre de Thaon is a Norman Romanesque place of worship dating from the 11th to the 12th century. It was among the first historic monuments to be classified in 1840. On the 6 km “Thaon – la Vieille Eglise – La Mue” walk, the church is just 700 metres along the route. This lets you take both its history and the specific distance into account when planning, without confusing the 700 metres with the total length of the route.
The Château de Thaon was built in two campaigns, in 1624 and 1732. It received partial protection as a historic monument on 27 July 1978. This covers the façades and roofs, the staircase with its wrought-iron railing, and the small Louis XV-style salon on the first floor. The church and château therefore represent different periods of construction and different historical classifications: the church is Romanesque and dates from the 11th to the 12th century; the château’s two building campaigns took place in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A name from the 1970s
The Moulin du Vivier also has its own naming history: in the 1970s, the mill was known as “Mine à Poivre.” This historical name adds another local connection to the area’s architectural and village history, without linking it to any particular walking route.
Discover more destinations: Cahagnolles, Le Breuil-en-Auge, Caen, Creully, Clécy, Écrammeville, Subles, Saint-Germain-De-Tallevende-La-Lande-Vaumont.
For the regional travel overview: Calvados.
