Quirieu, medieval site
Quirieu is a sleepy town that looks like something out of a fairytale.
It lies on the northern border of the Dauphiné region, and is now part of the commune of Bouvesse-Quirieu (Isère) and the Communauté de Communes des Balcons du Dauphiné.
The site extends over a 4-hectare limestone hillock forming a small, elongated and naturally steep plateau. On its eastern flank, Quirieu overlooks the Rhône and its alluvial terraces by almost 100 metres. To the east, opposite the site on the other side of the river, rise the first powerful foothills of the southern Bugey. To the west, Quirieu opens onto the cold lands of the Bas Dauphiné.
In the Middle Ages, it was one of the main strongholds of the Dauphiné. Quirieu enjoyed a privileged position of control over a territory, a river route and a border (the Rhône, which separated Dauphiné and Bugey until 1601). After its heyday between the 14th and 16th centuries, Quirieu was gradually abandoned. But the streets and houses of the old urban fabric are still very much in evidence.
The landscape character of this abandoned village, where nature and vegetation have reclaimed their rights, gives Quirieu its originality. This "ghost village" takes on the appearance of a fairytale setting, where dreams, imagination and poetry rub shoulders with history.
The site is dotted with themed panels, allowing you to explore Quirieu in complete freedom. Take a stroll along the paths of the Quirieu site and head for the orientation tables, where you'll discover the breathtaking panorama of the medieval site. As you look down on the land below, you'll realise how man has shaped this landscape through his skills: Traces of the tramway on the Rhône, multinational cement works (Vicat), quarrying, vineyards (Syndicat des Vins du Bugey, Montagnieu), the hydraulic (CNR) and nuclear (EDF) industries, leisure centres (Vallée Bleue, Montalieu-Vercieu), crafts (Moulin d'Arche, Bouvesse-Quirieu) and luxury furniture factories (Ligne Roset, Briord) etc.
Today, Quirieu is coming back to life thanks to occasional events organised as part of a gentle tourism initiative based around storytelling or musical and historical walks (storytelling evening in the moonlight at the end of June, Concordia construction site in July).
