Grez-sur-Loing

The pretty village of Grez stretches out gracefully on the left bank of the Loing, whose banks are a privileged natural site and are the ideal place to rest, fish or go for a boat or canoe ride. A flowery village, Grez-sur-Loing has preserved its charm and protected its medieval heritage, which can be discovered in the old paved streets.

In the Middle Ages, Grez was protected by four gates and a small surrounding wall. It occupied an important place between the royal road and the river Loing, routes through which goods were transported to Paris. Of the old medieval village, only three buildings and vaulted cellars remain, classified or registered as Historic Monuments. 

• The 17th century stone bridge has suffered extensive damage several times in the course of history, and it took more than 40 years to rebuild it identically.
• The Ganne tower, built at the end of the 12th century, was part of the fortified defence line of the Île-de-France region against Burgundy and Champagne. Louise de Savoie, mother of King François I, died in this keep in 1531.
• The church of Notre-Dame et Saint-Laurent was apparently built on the site of an ancient Gallic temple around 1180, the date of the reign of Philip Augustus, when the "fleur de lys" was adopted as the royal emblem. There are a few tiles in the church bearing this emblem.

At the end of the 19th century, between 1860 and 1914, the village became a renowned artistic place for painters, sculptors, writers and musicians. The village welcomed colonies of British, American, Scandinavian and Japanese artists, whose motto was "Come to Grez! As soon as the weather was fine, these young people who had come to study in Paris deserted the studios to practice plein air painting ("painting on the ground"), inspired by the atmosphere of the place and its inhabitants. They stayed in one of the two hotels in the village, Chevillon and Beauséjour, and in the houses of the village.

The museum of the town hall of Grez-sur-Loing presents a beautiful collection of works that retraces this period, a collection initiated by Fernande Sadler, woman of letters, painter, archaeologist and mayor of Grez from 1945 to 1947.

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