Prochain point : lat="49.1531" lon="1.78723"
Coaching Inns
Magny: a staging post
An oft-used road...
Magny-en-Vexin has the great advantage of being located on a busy road linking Paris and Rouen. This axis played a key role in the expansion of the settlement, which soon became a staging post and market town. The highway services were organised in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to transport letters and convey passengers. The first way-stations were created and a regular service set up. The postmaster was obliged to have several horses at the ready and to ensure that his property had enough space to store forage and to accommodate the equipages and mounts. The development of the railway in 1850 brought about a decline in staging posts, and the institution was abolished in 1873.
... dotted with well-known inns
The route was lined with numerous inns that were indicated by signs. It seems that Magny-en-Vexin boasted over a dozen such auberges in the eighteenth century. The hostelry known as the ‘Bras d’Or’, built by the architect Damesme, is one of the oldest. It consists of several main buildings, including one occupied by the owners and another dedicated to the activities of the hostel and the teams of horses. The three stables were behind the paved yard on the ground floor of the building at right angles.
The ‘Grand Cerf’ inn - on the corner of Rue de Paris and the Place d'Armes - opened its doors in 1825. It was rebuilt in 1840 by the Parisian architect Charles Duval in classical style, and renamed ‘Hotel de la Poste’. The carriage door gave access to service buildings surrounding a courtyard. The inn closed in 1872, when the gate topped by horse heads was demolished.
