Bléneau () is a commune in the

Yonne Yonne (, in Burgundian: ''Ghienne'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight con ...

department in

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

in north-central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in the historical region of

Puisaye The Puisaye () is a natural and historical region of France, now divided between the Departments of France, departments of Loiret, Nièvre and Yonne. Its historical and administrative center is the town of Saint-Fargeau. Its inhabitants are know ...

Geography

Bléneau, the administrative centre of its natural area, is a commune of around 1,289 inhabitants (in 2017) of the

area. The commune is on the site of an ancient route that crossed the

Loing The Loing () is a long river in central France, a left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in Sainte-Colombe-sur-Loing, in the southwest of the departments of France, department of Yonne, and it flows into the Seine in Saint-Mammès, near Mo ...

. The commune covers 3941 hectares and has

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s and grazing lands on its territory. Bléneau is situated at 150 km from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 56 km from

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

and 29 km from

Gien Gien () is a Communes of France, commune in the Loiret Departments of France, department in north-central France. Gien is on the river Loire, from Orléans. Gien station has rail connections to Montargis, Nevers and Paris. The town was bought ...

. Like the rest of Yonne, Bléneau is on the geological region of the Paris Bassin, but the natural area of Puisaye is characterized by the presence of Puisaye sand and the presence of

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

that permeate the soil. Bléneau thus presents many

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

habitats and

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s on its territory. There is a Natural site of importance (

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

) on the territory of the commune, at the limit of the neighbouring commune of Saint-Privé. That natural site is composed of

oligotrophic An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates o ...

s where

littorella ''Littorella'' is a genus of two to three species of aquatic plants. Many plants live their entire lives submersed, and reproduce by stolons, but some are only underwater for part of the year, and flower when they are not underwater. Classific ...

plants grow and their adjacent damp meadows. The protected site presents a complexe ensemble of green landscapes, damp or dry, in every stage of plant colonisation.

History

Humane presence on the territory is present since

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

, and many

silex Separation of isotopes by laser excitation (SILEX) is a process for enriching uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that may also present a growing nuclear weapons proliferation risk. It is strongly suspected that SILEX utilizes laser condensation repre ...

tools were found, notably by André Huchet on a site near the limit of Bléneau and Saint-Privé. More than 2000 silex tools were collected on a territory of less than 25 hectares. Tombs from the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

period were found in 1832 near the heart of the commune. Approximatively twenty tombs dug directly in coral-rag were discovered, inside which were human remains and a few metallic objects, amon others were a

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

ring, an iron belt plate and an iron hook. All the individuals buried had their head pointing toward the east. Other tombs of the same period were found in the area. The presence of these tombstone indicate the presence of a roman upper class in the city. The commune is first mentioned in the 6th century in an official text called "Statuts de Saint-Aunaire évèque d'Auxerre de 572 à 603" which listed the 38 parishes of

. The commune was listed under the name Blanoilus and is considered an important community of the area. The origin of the name Bléneau is unclear, and there are hypothesis of a gaulish or Celtic origin. The city was on an ancient road called ''Voie des marchands'', meaning "merchants' road", which connected Auxerre to Briare by crossing the Loing. Archeological researches in the area showed that there were notable Gallo-Roman settlements in the area, and sarcophagus and traces of iron mining were found near the commune. The first feudal lords of the area are unknown, and the first known house governing Bléneau was the Saint-Verrain House that acquired it in 1286, and the fief got into the hands of the Courtenay House in 1328. The castellany stayed under their control until 1773, when they sold it to pay their debt. The name of the commune if linked to the "battle of Bléneau" of 1652.

Sightseeing

Les jardins d'eau

The Jardins d'eau de Pierre Doudeau were created in 1994 and are now the property of the commune. Botanical garden combining water and green landscapes, the Jardin d'eau extends on 4 hectares and contains more than 800 plant species, many of them rare or endemic. Many waterfowls live in the park:

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

red-crested pochard The red-crested pochard (''Netta rufina'') is a large diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck", and Latin ''rufina'', "golden-red" (from ''rufus'', "ruddy"). Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes in so ...

moorhen Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen." They are close relatives of coots. They are ...

s, etc. The island on the biggest pond of the parc has more than 5000 bulbs of daffodils. Every year during summer, a familial celebration is held in the garden.

Saint-Loup Church

Courtenay castle

Tower of the surrounding walls (Tour d'enceinte)

References

External links

Official website
of the commune (in French)

the area where the commune is situated {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleneau Communes of Yonne Orléanais