Hiking - La ronde des fours

A rich walk featuring small built heritage with its ovens and rammed earth buildings. Rammed earth

Rammed earth was an ecological material ahead of its time, key to our rural history in most buildings. Derived from the decomposition of granite rocks, very prevalent in the Limagne foothills of the Forez, its use is complex and requires hours of learning. Its superior natural insulating properties compared to stone have proven themselves over the centuries. Yet, it has gradually been abandoned, due to a lack of volunteer labor, due to lack of time… construction in Auvergne being primarily based on solidarity in modest communities. The technique is based on an assembly of this “earth,” prepared beforehand during the winter. In the spring, the rammed earth is compacted between wooden formwork planks (coffering boards) with conical pegs and formwork keys (visible holes in the constructions) inserted, and the jointing keys are tied to lime.