Discovery trail: The village
With this discovery trail, go to the emblematic sites of Sanguinet in all seasons. 9 themes are proposed. >> Download the description sheet with the location map , which is also available at the town hall or at the Tourist Office. Do not hesitate to ask for it to make the route.
Additional information is listed on QR codes placed at each point of interest along the route.
The lake museum
The lake museum presents a collection of 450 objects (ceramics, coins, tar jars, ornaments and jewelry) testifying to the daily life of the people who lived near the mouth of the Gourgue and the lake in formation for over 2000 years. Among the archaeological pieces are spectacular pirogues made of pine and oak. Designed in close connection with the geography and the environment, the museum presents the lake in its entirety and tells the story of its creation, its fauna and flora.
The gem space
This name recalls the first activity carried out on the site: the distillation of the resin produced by the gemmage of the pines, an operation which consisted in separating the volatile part of the resin (turpentine) from the solid part (rosin). In memory, each building is named after a tool used by the gemmakers.
The gemmage
The invention of gemmage dates back to Gallo-Roman times for the caulking of boats, but the process began its industrial phase in France in the 17th century, and became widespread in the Gascony moors from the middle of the 19th century with the end of the agropastoral system and the afforestation of the massif. Gemmage consists of "wounding" the maritime pine with the aim of provoking a secretion of gem or resin in order to harvest it.
The bastides of the South-West
In Provence, the term "bastide" refers to a stone construction at a time when the common habitat was still largely made of wood or even earth, depending on the region. The term is close to the notion of a Roman villa which designates a farm in the countryside. In the South-West, the term is borrowed to designate another reality, that of a village or a town built on a particular plan: the bastide. It is from 1229 onwards that the term takes on the meaning of a new town.
Hunting by the ton
Wooden huts placed on the edge of the lake may attract your attention. These are hunting facilities built by waterfowl hunters. The name of the fixed post changes from one region to another: it can be called a hut or a gabion, but in the southwest, the term "tonne" is used. Originally, large barrels were used as a lookout.
The pond of Cazaux-Sanguinet
Straddling the departments of Gironde and Landes, the lake of Cazaux-Sanguinet is one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in France. The Gironde part belongs to the State, the Landes part to the communes of Biscarrosse and Sanguinet. The Cazaux air base has a security perimeter on the lake for its activities, indicated by yellow buoys, within which navigation is regulated.
Catch and release fishing
The lake of Sanguinet in the chain of lakes of the northern Landes is the end of the long migration of eels. In order to catch them, the inhabitants of Sanguinet invented an original process whose first traces go back to the 19th century.
The Gourgue
The Gourgue is a small peaceful stream reddened by an iron substrate. It is a stream about ten kilometers long which takes its source in the valley of the same name.
The church
The church of Saint Sauveur de Sanguinet, dates from the middle of the 19th century. It was built between 1853 and 1856 by the architects Jules Sibien and Layrolle and by the company Ferran on the site of an old Romanesque church built in the 12th century.