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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Julius Caesar's Way, or Chartres Road, is an ancient road about 100 km from Chartres to Blois, crossing the departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loir-et-Cher. Its layout, marked by straight lines, remains visible in the landscape as partial boundaries, roads or roads. Although his name evokes Julius Caesar, his origin could be Gaulish, with subsequent corrections under the Roman Empire. It was used for the transport of wood, grains and wool between the Beauce and the Marchenoir forest, which was used until the 19th century.

Ranked a historic monument in 1978 for its sections crossing Beauce la Romaine, this route has remarkable technical characteristics. In Membrolles, a cut made in 1981 reveals a structure in superimposed layers: 20-25 cm stones aligned on a bed of large stones, bordered with anti-erosion slabs. To the south of Verdes, its original pebbly covering, maintained by medium-scale aircraft trimmings, forms a dam barring the Eagle and once closing the Dunois Lake (20 ha), dried in 1851.

The route, well attested on the majority of its route, today takes on departmental roads such as the D935 (Chartres-Dammarie) or the D924 (Pontijou-Blois). Local toponyms evoke its history: "Chauffours" (antique or medieval ovens near the Gault-Saint-Denis), "la Chaussay" in Averdon, or "le Grand Chaussé" in Boisseau. These names, like that of the former commune of La Colombe (perhaps from the Latin columna, kilometric limit), highlight its multi-sacular heritage.

Mentioned in the Middle Ages in the cartular of the abbey of Saint-Laumer de Blois under the name of Blesencis calceatus callis ("Blois's slippery path"), the path also appears on the map of Cassini as "path to Blois". His assignment to Julius Caesar is a medieval and modern tradition combining the great ancient infrastructures with the Roman emperor, although there is no evidence to confirm his direct involvement. Its economic role, particularly in the supply of natural resources, has been proven since ancient times.

Uncertainties persist on certain sections, such as the passages of the valleys of Conie (Varize) and Aigre (Verdes), where a ford and a dyke are assumed. In the Marchenoir forest, the western route is also poorly defined. Despite these shadow zones, the path retains exceptional visibility in the landscape, illustrating the sustainability of the communication axes inherited from antiquity and reused over the centuries.

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