Sentiers du Patrimoine ®
Génicourt
Tourner à gauche pour revenir vers Génicourt par la rue des Morvilliers. A la première maison, prendre la sente à droite qui contourne les terrains de sport puis revient à la mairie.
Prochain point : lat : 49.08791, long. 2.06671
This road cross, erected at a crossroads, was put up in 1946. It therefore used materials common to the 20th century : a base made of cementand acast iron Christ of a very common shape. Erecting road crosses as landmarks and as markers for religious or commemorative processionsis an old tradition of the French Vexin. It was particularly common in the 19th century. In this case this cross was erected much more recently. This calvary was actually made to show gratitude after the village was protected from the air raids in1943 and1944, as indicated on the base.
During the Second World War, the occupation of the French Vexin by the German army was particularly important. A Kommandantur was in fact installed in Génicourt. The village was actually a strategic place, close to road accesses to Pontoise, but mostly close to the Cormeilles-en-Vexin aerodrome which was transformed by the Germans into an important base for the air force, where the Luftwaffedid two solid landing runways as well as several concrete runways around the site.According to several statements, these offset concrete strips were probably used to hide aircrafts. You can still see today old concrete runways in Osny, Cormeilles-en-Vexin and Génicourt. One of which going from the North/East side of the aerodrome all the way near the silo along the D22.This is how Génicourt found itself very close to the Allied bombings but hopefully the war damages were quite limited. This cross therefore follows the tradition of popular devotion and is an account of the past events.
