Ferme du Sougey

The Sougey lands were once owned by local nobles such as the Lords of Châtillon-les-Dombes, the Lords of Loriol (or Asnières) and the Chossats.
Now smaller, the estate is best known for its old farmhouse, said to be the oldest in Bresse (1460). Listed as a historic monument in 1946, it has been the property of the Département since 2002 and has been converted into a local museum.
The farm consists of four buildings: a furnished main building or "house", a farm building with a barn and small stables, an oven with pigsties and a large stable occupying almost the entire building.
The house features an intact Saracen fireplace, whose exposed brick bolster is the only one on a square base with that of Mollardoury. Known as "baroque", it is topped by a bell tower framed by four small pinnacles.
The buildings feature exhibitions of antique tools and costumes, as well as a reconstructed classroom. The bocage surrounding the farm features 6 km of hedges and long avenues lined with hundred-year-old oak trees, classified as a sensitive natural area (ENS). There are also two ponds, a conservatory orchard of apple and pear trees, and an interpretation trail on Bresse poultry, the bocage and Bresse architecture. A pair of donkeys, Romeo and Juliette, the farm's mascots, await visitors of all ages.
The estate still bears the memory of its last occupant, Maria FAVIER, an emblematic figure of the Bresse region, whose stories enchanted personalities such as Jacky Kennedy, Brigitte Bardot and VGE.

An interpretive trail runs 550m around the farm, with interactive stations in English and French. It is accessible to people with reduced mobility, and takes visitors on a tour of the Bresse PDO poultry farm and the farm's animals: donkeys, sheep and goats.

For younger visitors:
Discovery games are available:

Orientation games for children on 3 themes:
-- animals of the bocage
- the trees of Sougey :
- Bresse architecture

Traditional games may also be of interest to children: bowling, boules...

The site is managed by the association "Les Amis du Sougey et de la Bresse", which offers guided tours for individuals and groups, as well as events (Bresse snack) and a biennial sound and light show (over 350 volunteer actors directed by Xavier ARLOD), the profits from which are reinvested in safeguarding the farm.

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