Farm of Sougey
Description
Le Sougey is a very old Bresse agricultural estate, whose 35 hectares of hedged farmland now offer a listed farm (1460), a Bresse poultry farm and organic vegetable production.
The lands of Sougey were the property of great local nobles, such as the lords of Châtillon-les-Dombes, the lords of Loriol (or Asnières) and the Chossats.
Today the domain is smaller, but it is known for its old farm, which would be the oldest in Bresse (1460). Classified as a historic monument in 1946, it has been the property of the Department since 2002 and is now a museum of the region.
The farm is composed of four buildings: a furnished main building or "house", a farm building with a barn and small stables, an oven with pigsties and a large stable occupying almost the entire building.
The house has a Saracen chimney which has remained intact and whose mitre, in visible brick, is the only one on a square base with that of Mollardoury. The so-called "baroque" chimney is topped by a bell tower framed by four small pinnacles.
In the buildings are proposed exhibitions of old tools and costumes and the reconstitution of a classroom. The bocage surrounding the farm has 6 km of hedges and large alleys lined with hundred-year-old oaks, classified as a sensitive natural area (ENS). There are also two ponds, a conservatory orchard of apple and pear trees, an interpretation trail on Bresse poultry, the bocage and Bresse architecture. A couple of donkeys, Romeo and Juliette, the farm's mascots, await the young and old visitors.
The domain keeps the memory of its last occupant, Maria FAVIER, an emblematic character of Bresse, whose stories enchanted some personalities of her time, such as Jacky Kennedy, Brigitte Bardot or VGE.
An interpretation trail runs around the farm for 550m with interactive stations in English and French. It is accessible to people with reduced mobility and allows you to discover the routes of the Bresse PDO poultry farm and the farm animals: donkeys, sheep and goats.
For the youngest:
Discovery games are proposed:
Orientation games for children on 3 themes:
-- the animals of the bocage
- the trees of Sougey :
- the Bresse architecture
Traditional games can also interest the children; bowling, boules...
Technical Information
Altimetric profile
Date and time
- From 09/07/2024 to 27/08/2024
Additional information
Reception conditions for animals
Dogs on leash
Updated by
Bourg-en-Bresse Destinations - Office de tourisme - 02/07/2024
www.bourgenbressedestinations.fr
Report a problem
Open period
From 09/07 to 27/08/2024
Opening hours on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2 pm.
The farm will be open for guided tours every afternoon for individuals and groups.
First visit at 2pm / Last visit at 5pm.
Contact
Phone : 06 41 41 54 05
Email : lesamisdusougey@gmail.com
Website : www.bresse-sougey.net
Facebook : www.facebook.com/people/les-amis-du-sougey/100095394903657/
Google+ : maps.google.com/?cid=14379565740548079072
Host portrait
Maria Favier (1911-2000)
Legendary figure of the Bresse region, she was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Reyssouze in the hamlet of Montiernoz.
In 1922, her parents, rich farmers, bought the 35 ha estate of Sougey where she lived all her life. She and her brother received it as a donation in 1945. After the death of her brother in 1978, Maria remained alone in the farm with Pierre, her valet. Her door was always open to visitors from France and abroad. She was friends with the former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and was even invited to the garden party at the Elysée Palace! Other personalities such as Georges Blanc and Paul Bocuse came to visit her during poultry contests where she always won the first prize for her geese. Her guestbook is honored, among others, by the signatures of Brigitte Bardot and Jackie Kennedy. She welcomed with pleasure visitors interested in life at the domain and in the stories of her life as a farmer, of her love for Bresse, which she told them more and more often... And so she was named "the storyteller of Sougey". She died at the estate in March 2000.
Reception complements
The site is managed by the association "les Amis du Sougey et de la Bresse" which offers guided tours for individuals and groups, as well as animations (Bresse snack) and a biannual sound and light show (more than 350 volunteer actors directed by Xavier ARLOD) whose profits are reinvested in the preservation of the farm.
