The Circuit de la Croix Camonin is a 14-kilometer-long art trail marked in pink that runs through the village of Fresnes-au-Mont and features 32 artworks. Near Fresnes-au-Mont, a bunker made of stones and metal rails covered with concrete sheets was built along this circuit in April 1916.
Anyone considering Fresnes-au-Mont as a destination may want to rent a vacation rental.
Art and Trails
Around twenty artworks by Vent des Forêts, a nationally recognized contemporary art center, are located along the trails in the municipal forest of Fresnes-au-Mont. Since 1997, Vent des Forêts has been run by an association bringing together six villages shaped by agriculture and forestry: Fresnes-au-Mont, Lahaymeix, Nicey-sur-Aire, Pierrefitte-sur-Aire, Dompcevrin, and Ville-devant-Belrain.
The Circuit des Trois Fontaines is an 8-kilometer-long circular trail marked in red, featuring 22 artworks and crossing the Louvent plain; it is crossed by the D901.
Landscape
Around two-thirds of Fresnes-au-Mont's 15.89 km² area is covered by forest. The woodland lies on the limestone Barrois Plateau and features gently sloping, shallow valleys as well as diverse tree vegetation.
Three streams join at the bottom of the narrow, grass-covered Prairie de Louvent valley to form a creek. This valley forms the boundary between Fresnes-au-Mont, Lahaymeix, and Les Paroches.
History and Village Character
The Église Saint-Laurent was built in 1834 according to plans by the architect Théodore Oudet (1793–1865). Fresnes-au-Mont is first mentioned in 904 in a charter issued by Louis III, by which the king transferred the village to the Vieux-Moutier priory in Saint-Mihiel.
The cemetery of Fresnes-au-Mont contains rows of 19th-century funerary monuments, the stele of Abbé Cordier (1833–1933), decorated with two monstrances and a chasuble as symbols of the priesthood, as well as the grave of Captain Audibert, who fell in 1914.
The installation “Terrain d’occurrences” is located in a former quarry where road-building material and limestone for lime production were extracted. The Ferme de Louvent preserves a 17th-century residential building and an agricultural building constructed around 1820; the latter is visible from the viewpoint.
Trails and Orientation
The seven circular trails of Vent des Forêts are accessible on foot and by mountain bike; trail maps show, among other things, parking areas and large picnic tables. The Vent des Forêts hiking map is available in a box outside the door of the town hall of Fresnes-au-Mont.
