The oldest date from the 17th century. The peach walls, spread over around thirty hectares in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), are in danger. They were selected to be among the 101 heritage lottery sites.
–
On a map, it is a green setting in the middle of an ocean of concrete. The 35 hectares of fishing walls in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) are the last vestiges of a tradition that dates back to the 17th century when the region was still very rural.
At the time, the city was a hotspot for horticulture. The vines are cultivated there abundantly. But little by little, the construction of the walls will allow the development of a completely different culture: that of the peach trees which usually grow in the Mediterranean.
“These horticulturalists were innovative people. They invented greenhouses without gasoline, without oil. The inertia of the walls preserves the trees”, explains Pascal Mage, president of the association Fishing Walls.
The heat accumulated by the wall during the day is released at night, allowing the peach trees to withstand the cool temperatures of the region at the end of winter.
Hundreds of hectares in the 19th century
These walls were built with materials found on site. They are sometimes covered with plaster. With an average height of 2.80 meters, they can however reach 3.5 meters high.
Mainly, they are covered with a triangular-shaped hood, made of plaster or tiles. This regional specificity protects the wall but also crops from severe weather.
In the heyday of Montreuil horticulture, in the 19th century, more than 350 hectares were cultivated in the town and around 500 kilometers of walls were built. Today, there are only 17 km left, some of which have partially collapsed.
Associations are therefore working to restore them. “It is impossible to give them exactly the same aspect as at the time. We do not have the same tools or the same materials. Plasters, today, are done in an industrial way. They are smoother, whiter, and have a shorter lifespan “, says Solen Guedas of the association Sense of Humus.
The means necessary for the restoration and maintenance of these places are colossal. Next step for them: the construction of a plaster furnace, as in the old days.
101 sites selected including 9 in Île-de-France
For this edition, a 15 euro ticket is offered for sale and 1.76 euro is donated to the Heritage Foundation.
- The medieval cellar of Ourscamp in Paris
- Forges castle in Seine-et-Marne
- The charter office of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in the Yvelines
- Jacques-Boussard park in Lardy in Essonne
- The South icehouse and the icebox-chapel at Vanves in the Hauts-de-Seine
- The peach walls in Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis
- The dovecote of Périgny in the Val-de-Marne
- Gérard Philipe’s house in Cergy in the Val-d’Oise
- The fort of Cormeilles-en-Parisis in the Val-d’Oise
–
