Villey le sec

Villey le Sec Coat of Arms

Danièle URIOT — 2022-02-05T10:02:27Z

The arms of Villey le Sec in heraldic depiction is: Azur, on a Bend Gules, three Charges Or, a capital V between a Crosier in the Chief and the Cross of Lorraine in the Base. Two other Charges Argent are also represented, a stone tower in the Chief Sinister and a church in the Base Dexter, both underlined in Sable.

Heraldry is a representation discipline that was developed around the 12th century so Knights in full face helmet and body armour could quickly differentiate themselves on the battlefield.

Here is Villey le Sec arms description in today's language [1]: Azur (blue), on a Bend Gules (on a diagonal upper left to lower right bright red band), three Charges Or (with on it 3 gold symbols), a capital V between a Crosier in the Chief (in the top part) and the Cross of Lorraine in the Base (in the lower part). Two other Charges Argent (2 other silver symbols) are also represented, a stone tower in the Chief Sinister (top right corner) and a church in the Base Dexter (bottom left corner), both underlined in Sable (black).

Le blason de Villey le sec

Jean-Pierre URIOT

Coat of arms design or Blazon in Heraldic: The red diagonal band with the 3 gold symbols reminds the arms of the Duchy of Lorraine with its 3 silver Avalerions or Alerions, (heraldic representation of an eagle with one eye looking left, no beak or claws and wings down), as Villey le Sec once belonged to the Duchy of Lorraine.
Our town was then located on the border of the Duchy and the Toul's bishop territory that was belonging to France. This explains the capital V between the bishop crosier and the Cross of Lorraine. The blue background was selected as it figured on the Arms of nobles that marked our town history (Hoffelize and Riaucourt). This blue colour was also the colour of the old church sealing, scattered with stars, that was destroyed in 1944 by the Nazi.
The church was rebuilt in 1955 and figures in the lower left corner of the shield (Escutcheon in Heraldic). The tower in the right top corner represents the town fortification built starting 1874.
The original design of the Arms was proposed in 1982 by Jean-Pierre URIOT, on the mayor's request, Claude Prévôt as he had noticed that none existed for his town. The design was validated in 1984.

[1]

Engraved Landmarks

Danièle URIOT — 2022-01-14T08:36:22Z

Villey le Sec territory shares his west side border with Chaudeney municipality. Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, this wooded area neighbouring ours belonged to Toul's bishop. This, as he was Lord of Chaudeney where he had a summer residence, the house seigneurial.

From a very long time ago, bishops had authorised Villey le Sec inhabitants the use of their neighbouring woodlands for their cattle grazing rights. They were also given authorisation to cross these areas to access their meadows located on the Moselle river banks, the locality named “le Radelot”. Obviously, these rights were not free and inhabitants had to pay an annual fee, years on end.

Les bornes gravées du bois de Villey

From generation to generation, inhabitants became accustomed to use the bishop lands as they pleased and considering them part of the community. Consequently, in 1725, this brought animosity between Toul's bishop and Villey le Sec inhabitants.

Les bornes gravées du bois de Villey

As a result, this started a series of legal proceedings involving forest officer's reports and title search. In the end, arbitration was awarded to the bishop. In 1739, in order to avoid any future ambiguities, the bishop had stone landmarks installed to delimit his land boundaries. To make it even more obvious for people unable to read, he had the markers engraved with a bishop's crozier on his land side. But this engraving was found insufficient as the bishop land boundary was also the border between France and Lorraine, (the city of Toul was French for almost two centuries when Villey le Sec was still part of Lorraine).
Hence, the bishop asked to add next to the crozier, a fleur-de-lis, emblem of France and had the Lorraine cross engraved on the other side. This legendary cross of Lorraine or two barred cross, originally related to the Crusader's cross, was honoured by General De Gaule as the symbol of the Free French Forces of World War II.

At the end, the engraved landmarks didn't serve a purpose very long as, in 1766, after Stanislas death, Lorraine was annexed by France and Villey le Sec became French. These landmarks still stand today and this engraved two-barred cross may remind us that we once became European but that our land remains Lorraine.

Les bornes gravées du bois de Villey

Jean-Pierre URIOT

VIDELIACUS

Danièle URIOT — 2022-01-13T14:40:14Z

If we look at a map of Villey Le Sec surroundings, we note that its landscape is the result of a deforestation between Chaudeney and Gondreville woodlands, at the corner of Haye's forest, and the Moselle river left bank. There are no records of when the clearing happened except that it became the estate of a person named Videlius who established his Videliacus domain.

In the year 602, a devout widow named Pretoria, donated the property to Toul's bishop, Eudulus, who in turn donated it to the monks of Saint Epvre.

This later donation was validated later on by renowned personalities such as: Frotaire, Toul's bishop in 836, the King Charles II or Charles the Bald in 873, Saint Gauzelin in 936 and many others.

The estate kept flourishing as the monks added a part of the Moselle valley forest they had cleared and converted in meadow.
This brought them a lawsuit with the people of the Villa Orcada (Ochey), lawsuit they won as judges noted that they never failed to pay their property rent (cens du territoire). The original contract was acknowledged by the Lord of Ochey in 1474 and was still in effect in the first part of the 16 century.

Over the years, Videliacus became Villey le Sec and fell under the Duke of Lorraine protection. Located on the borders of his duchy and Toul's bishop estate, stone landmarks engraved on one side with the Cross of Lorraine for the duchy and with a Fleur-de-Lis, French emblem, on the other side, can still be found in the woods.

Hunting calendar

Mairie — 2021-03-30T06:46:13Z

Hunting season calendar 2020/2021

General openings from September 19, 2021 to February 28, 2022

Battue or driving hunt days declared and authorised by the Hunting Association 54, Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays.
Battue or driving hunt days, Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Field hunt days, all week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the opening season.
Stand hunting from June 1 to September 5, tree-stands, ground blinds or tripod stands (at sunrise and at sunset).
Crow shooting with local government administration authorisation during sowing (seeding) period.

Locations:

Salle des fêtes

9 rue de Toul
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Ancienne école

5 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Salle du conseil

2 Place de l'Église
54840 Villey le Sec
Entrée sur la rue de Maron

See on a map
Maison de la communication

1 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Entrée de la batterie Nord

Entrance to the village on the Toul side

See on a map
Mairie

2, place de l'Église
54840 Villey-le-Sec

See on a map
Radio Déclic

1 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Entrée de la batterie Sud

Entrance to the redoubt

See on a map
Terrain stand de tir

Route de Maron

See on a map
ACCA

Hunting area for Villey le Sec hunters

See on a map

To find out the hunting area for the day, click on the event in the calendar
Place de la mairie

Place de la mairie
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Camping de Villey le sec

See on a map
Auberge De La Jument Verte

See on a map
Déchets verts

Green waste drop-off area

See on a map
Bibliothèque

1 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
G.F.A. du Fays

See on a map
Église

3 Pl. de l'Église,
54840 Villey-le-Sec

See on a map

Public transport

Mairie — 2021-03-30T06:41:10Z

Public transport

You will find a Colibri bus stop in front of the City Town Hall. Colibri is the Local Public Transport Network with 80% electric vehicles as well as one accessible for people with disability.
Colibri - réseau de transport des Terres touloises

Timetables for the different routes:

Do you need to travel outside of regular bus hours? You can use
transport on demand. For people with disability or people over 75 years of age, pick-up and drop-off can be requested and arranged at the closest route from their home by reservation only. For booking, visit
Réseau Colibri : le transport à la demande

For more information about timetables, fares or network maps, you may consult these sites:
Plan interactif des lignes - FLUO - Villey le Sec

or call 03 72 33 03 20->tel:0372330320]
Agence : Cours Poincaré 54200 Toul

The campsite

Mairie — 2021-03-24T16:57:38Z

Camping Villey le sec

Villey le Sec campsite is located on the banks of the Moselle river, in a green and hilly environment. A fisherman's paradise, it is also the starting point for many “nature” activities: hiking, cycling, canoeing...

Camping Villey le sec

Ideally located on the Moselle cycling tour loop, the campsite welcomes visitors on spacious camping sites or in its comfortable accommodations.

Camping Villey le sec

Villey le Sec campsite is classified 3 stars and includes a modern and pleasant restaurant.

Opened from the 1^st of April to the 30^th of September.

For more information, visit Villey le Sec campsite

Camping Villey le sec

The Mourning Trails

Mairie — 2021-03-18T18:05:07Z

Les Sentiers des Deuilles

Our association brings together nearly 80 members, for whom we organise weekly hikes, on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

In addition to these regular events, we organise night hikes (4 per year), the “Nivéoles” hike (early March), the “Deuilles” hike (early April), the “Trans-Deuilles” that will start in Villey le sec beginning of June and finally, the “Autumn” hike happening in September at “Thuilley-aux-Groseilles”.

Les Sentiers des Deuilles

From Villey le sec starts the “Poudrière” trail marked with yellow rectangular signs. This 9 km trail, descends on the Moselle river, passes in front of natural caves and ending up through the “Bois Gaillard” via the Poudrière.

Les Sentiers des Deuilles

All tours are detailed in the form of topographical guides compiled in a brochure sold at the Association's Headquarters or at the Toul Tourist Office.

For more information about the Mourning Trails of Toul or to join the association, visit our website: Les Sentiers des Deuilles- Sentiers de randonnée dans le Toulois.

Visits

La Citadelle — 2021-02-23T17:30:02Z

A site visit is opened to the public and maintained thanks to volunteers from “La Citadelle” association. The visit will take you around part of the fortification in a natural environment with a breathtaking view of the Toul and Woëvre valley. Visit includes an exquisite tour aboard the scenic train “Le PetitTrain”. The narrow train track of 0.60m wide, is similar to the one used at the time for military supplies.. Warm clothing is recommended.

Guided tour

Operating hours

1st of May to 30th of September: Every Sundays and Holidays at 3:00 p.m.
14th of July to 15th of August: daily Tuesday to Sunday starting at 3:00 p.m. Closed on Monday
Also available all year round with reservation

Admission prices

Adults and children over 14: € 8
Groups: € 7
Children under 7 are free.
Children under 14: € 4 for the first 2. Additional children are free.
Family rate: parents (2 adults) and children under 18: € 20

Visit starts at the north battery entrance, located on the Toul side of town.

Schedule

Locations:

Salle des fêtes

9 rue de Toul
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Ancienne école

5 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Salle du conseil

2 Place de l'Église
54840 Villey le Sec
Entrée sur la rue de Maron

See on a map
Maison de la communication

1 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Entrée de la batterie Nord

Entrance to the village on the Toul side

See on a map
Mairie

2, place de l'Église
54840 Villey-le-Sec

See on a map
Radio Déclic

1 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Entrée de la batterie Sud

Entrance to the redoubt

See on a map
Terrain stand de tir

Route de Maron

See on a map
ACCA

Hunting area for Villey le Sec hunters

See on a map
Place de la mairie

Place de la mairie
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
Camping de Villey le sec

See on a map
Auberge De La Jument Verte

See on a map
Déchets verts

Green waste drop-off area

See on a map
Bibliothèque

1 place de l'église
54840 Villey le Sec

See on a map
G.F.A. du Fays

See on a map
Église

3 Pl. de l'Église,
54840 Villey-le-Sec

See on a map

Renovation of the infirmary and drawbridge

La Citadelle — 2021-02-19T09:17:53Z

Exhibition of war medical equipment

Exposition sur le matériel de médecine de guerre

La Citadelle

Exhibition of Toul military hospital Gama [1]

Exposition sur l'hôpital gamma de Toul

La Citadelle

Renovation of the infirmary

Réfection de l'infirmerie

La Citadelle

Drawbridge renovation

Réfection du pont

La Citadelle

Réfection du pont

La Citadelle

Réfection du pont

La Citadelle

Réfection du pont

La Citadelle

Réfection du pont

La Citadelle

[1] Army Chief Surgeon Jean-Pierre Gama

The south battery features and enhancements

La Citadelle — 2021-02-19T08:37:01Z

Entrance and the first function room available for hire

Batterie sud - L'entrée et la 1ère salle

La Citadelle

Central heating and ventilation systems

Batterie sud - La centrale de ventilation et de chauffage

La Citadelle

Undergrowth clearing and cleaning

Entretien et débroussaillage de la batterie sud

La Citadelle

Entretien et débroussaillage de la batterie sud

La Citadelle