Le Circuit des Puits

The circuit des Puits is a 6 km loop through the villages of Cuise-la-Motte and the hamlets of Genancourt and Saint-Etienne-Roilaye.

The village of Cuise-la-Motte stands out for the number of wells in its building: some fifty wells in good condition, of which almost twenty are visible along the route. As many wells were located inside houses, we can estimate that by the end of the 19th century, their total number must have approached one hundred, despite competition from numerous springs and the ru de Vandy.

Another special feature of the commune is the Cuise-la-Motte Geosite, which is a stratotype, i.e. the type locality that serves as a reference for the Cuisien. A study of the Cuise-la-Motte sands reveals hundreds of fossil species, including 42 unique to the deposit. A little historical background: some 50 million years ago, a sea covered northern France and Belgium. This marine transgression of the Tertiary era was discovered in 1870 by Mr. Dolfus, who excavated a quarry near the hamlet of "La Montagne".