Travel Guide Villesèquelande

Villesèquelande is a rural commune in the Carcassonne area with less than a thousand inhabitants. At the time of the creation of the departments, it was first attached to the canton of Montreal before finally being attached to that of Alzonne. This village is known as the Village of the Tree. It must be said that Villesèquelande is indeed home to a remarkable tree, a Sully elm that has withstood 4 centuries of existence. Planted, like many others throughout France, at the end of the 16th century after the Wars of Religion, on the orders of Sully, minister and friend of Henri IV, protector of agriculture. To order that trees be planted after a war was more than a symbol, it was a profession of faith. The Ormeau de Sully de Villesèquelande, Orme champêtre Ulmus Carpinifolia/Ulmus Campestris has a circumference of 590 cm at one meter from the ground, that is to say a diameter of 1,88 m. It is one of the oldest trees in France. We know that the elm has been decimated by graphiosis. The one of Villesèquelande remains the only elm to have survived this plague. Opposite the elm tree, you can also admire the beautiful Romanesque church of Sainte-Marie. The village, drained by numerous streams, a hydrographic network totalling 10 km in length, is known to see the Canal du Midi pass by but also a green way borrowing the old towpath that can be visited by bike or on foot.