Pontenx les Forges

Let’s start by stepping back in time toadmire the public buildings, including the church and the charming garluche stone houses. Let’s continue to the Forges district, to soak up the history of the site, with its brick houses and small lake of the same name. We finish at Bouricos, a small Landes airial, to understand how life used to be organized in the Landes.

A picturesque village

The architectural heritage of this fast-growing village (population 1,700) bears witness to the heyday of the Forges and other industries in Pontenx in the 18th and 19th centuries: bourgeois residences nestled in a park, buildings clad in garluche or beautifully flowered brick houses. And if you take the side roads and byways, you’ll see many beautifully restored airiaux.

Theairial de Bouricos, open to the public, is a fine example: set in the heart of the pine forest, the site is a haven of peace, with its 13th-century chapel whose ceiling has been magnified by a wooden lace sculpture, and, a little further back, the Fontaine St Jean, said to be miraculous.

Pontenx also offers a wide range of leisure activities: sports center (playground, picnic area, pétanque court, city park, etc.), footpaths, canoeing, bike rides to Lac d’Aureilhan or the beaches of Mimizan and a small Saturday morning market regularly hosted by village associations.