Harbour

Vitry-le-François

Name: Vitry-le-François
Address: FR

3.7France

Maximum draught: 5 ft

Canal port at the junction of the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, the Canal latéral à la Marne and the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne, in the Marne department.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Three-canal junction with VNF locks on all branches. Maximum draught 1.6 m, Freycinet gauge. The basin is shallow and weeds up, so many visitors lie along the sheet piling wall with a fender board rather than use the finger pontoons, which sit in a narrow channel awkward for larger boats. Overhead bridges limit air draught. Commercial and leisure barge traffic at the junction, keep to starboard.

Practical

Quay and sheet piling mooring in the basin. About 13 euros covers water, electricity and showers, with French domestic sockets on the power points. Showers and toilets open only when the office is staffed, a few hours a day and not on Sundays or holidays, and the port is often shut out of season. A washing machine is on site. Fuel not on site. Supermarket 10 minutes on foot, bakery and pharmacy nearby, SNCF station on the Paris to Strasbourg line at 500 m.

Ashore

Vitry-le-François was founded in 1545 by François I on a grid plan after the destruction of Vitry-en-Perthois. Collégiale Notre-Dame, started in the 17th century, on the central Place d'Armes. Porte du Pont, a 17th-century gateway moved to the Rotonde.

History

The town replaces Vitry-en-Perthois, burnt by Charles V's troops in 1544. The Renaissance grid was drawn by Italian engineer Girolamo Marini. Heavily damaged in 1940 and rebuilt, the central square kept its original layout.