European Archaeology Days - Discover the Ordener district

To mark the European Archaeology Days, the Senlis Society of History and Archaeology, the Tiers-Lieu of Senlis and the History and Archaeology of Nanteuil are organising a tour of the Ordener district. A mini-conference by historian Jean-Marc Popineau will be followed by a tour of the exterior of the site.

The Senlis cavalry quarter has a long history. Named after Michel Ordener, the Austerlitz veteran who arrested the Duc d'Enghien, he was governor of the Palais de Compiègne and then buried in the Panthéon. In 1873, the town council bought Jean-Jacques Leduc's former coaching inn and the 6th cuirassiers regiment moved in, equipped with the largest riding arena in France; the 2nd hussars moved into the Ordener district in 1894 and then the 3rd hussars, which had moved in in 1912, took up the line on 6 August 1914; the district was burnt down by the Germans on 2 September 1914, but on 9 September 1914, two hundred Zouaves who had come from Paris by car drove out the last German soldiers from Senlis, who were entrenched in the Ordener district. The 5th chasseur moved to the Ordener district in 1919, followed by the Spahis, who were stationed in Senlis from 1928 to 1963. In 1944, elements of the Vlassov army, Soviet soldiers who had returned and joined the Nazi army, were stationed in the Ordener district. Then, from 1962 to 1979, the 501st Transport Group was stationed there, followed by the 41st Signal Regiment until 2009. Today, only a hotel has been preserved by the army. The district has now been bought by the town and a number of projects are under way to revive the various buildings, including the riding school and officers' mess.

Meet on Saturday 14 June at 4.30pm in front of the Tiers-Lieu de Senlis, 11 rue des cuirassiers, 60300 Senlis (inside the Ordener district, on the right as you enter from rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin, car park accessible from rue des Jardiniers).
Duration (lecture + visit: 1h30).
Free, no registration required.